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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA 
PATRISTIC STUDIES 


VOL. I 


ST. BASIL 


and 


GREEK LITERATURE 


A DISSERTATION 


Submitted to the Faculty of Letters of the&Catholic: University 
of America in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements 
for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 


BY 


LEO V. JAcks, A. M. 


CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA 
WASHINGTON, D. C. 
1922 


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL WORKS ON THE GREEK FATHERS 


Ameringer, T., The Stylistic Influence of the Second Sophistic on the 
Panegyrical Sermons of St. John Chrysostom, Washington, 1921. 
Bardenhewer, O., Geschichte d.Altkir. Literatur, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1912. 
Gronau, C., De Basilio, Gregorio Nazienzeno Nyssenoque, Platonis tmita- 
toribus, Gottingen, 1908. 

Lalanne, J. A., Influence des Péres de L’ Eglise sur Véducation publique, 
Paris, 1850. 

Matter, M., Histoire de L’Ecole d’Alexandrie, Paris, 1840. 

Migne, Patrologia Graeca, 29-32. 

Monnier, E., Histoire de Libanius, Paris, 1866. 

Naegele, A., Johannos Chrysostomos und sein Verhiltnis zum Hellenismus 
Byzant., Zeitschrift, XIII (1904). 

Norden, E., Die Antike Kunstprosa, Leipzig, 1909. 

Schmidt, W., Der Atticismus in seinen Hauptvertreten, Stuttgart, 1887. 

Simon, J., Histoire de L’Ecole d’Alexandrie, Paris, 1845. 

Stiglmayr, J., Kirchenvater und Klassicismus, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1913. 

Tillemont, L., Histoire Eccléstastique, Paris, 1714. 

Wendland, P., Christentum und Hellenismus, Leipzig, 1912. 


2 


SPECIAL WORKS ON ST. BASIL 


Allard, P., Saint Basile, Paris, 1800. 
Buttner, G., Basileos des Grossen Mahnworte an die Jugend, Miinchen, 


1908. 

Clarke, W. K. L., St. Basil the Great, a Study in Monasticism, Cambridge, 
1913. 

Dorgens, H., Der heilige Basilius und die classichen Studjen, Leipzig, 1857. 

Fialon, E., Etude sur Saint Basile, Paris, 1869. 

Jahn, A., Basilius Magnus Plotinizans, supplementum editionis Plotini 
Creuzerianae, Basilii M. Garnerianae, Bern, 1838. 

Lothholz, G., Basilius d.Gr.Rede an christliche Jiinglinge, Jena, 1857. 

Maloney, E., St. Basil the Great to Students on Greek Literature, New 
York, I901. 

Padelford, F. M., Essays on the Study and Use of Poetry by Plutarch and 
Basil the Great, New York, 1902. 

Plass, P., De Basilii et Ambrosi excerptis ad historiam animalium perti- 
nentibus, Marburg, 1905. 

Schafer, J., Basilius d.Grossen Beziehungen zum Abendlinde, Minster, 


i. W., 1909. 
Scholl, E., Die Lehre des hetligen Basilius von der Gnade, Freiburg, 1881. 
Schiirman, H., De SS. Basilio et Gregorio Nazienzeno literarum antiquarum 
studtosis, Kempen, 1872. 
Shear, T. L., The Influence of Plato on St. Basil, Baltimore, 1905. 
Trunk, J., De Basilio Magno sermonis Attici Imitatore, Stuttgart, 1911. 


CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE 


330 or 331. Basil was born. 


335- 


The Council of Tyre. 

The death of Arius. 

Death of Constantius. 

Julian sent to Macellum. 
Basil probably went to school at ἘΉΡΑ δα 
Council οἱ Sardica. 

Basil went to Constantinople. 
Death of Constans. 

Basil went to Athens. 

Death of Magnentius. 

Julian at Athens. 


or 356. Basil left Athens and returned to Caesarea. 


Basil was probably baptized. 

Basil was made reader. 

Basil visited monastic establishments in Syria, Mesopotamia, Egypt, 
and Palestine with a view to studying conditions, preliminary to 
founding a monastic retreat of his own. 

Basil went to the river Iris and entered the monastery. 

Basil was at Constantinople at the end of the year and was on the 
homoousian side at the Synod of Seleucia. 

Basil ordained deacon. 

Basil left Caesarea, joining Gregory at Nazianzus. 

Death of Constantine. Accession of Julian. 

Basil returned to Caesarea. 

Julian killed in the Persian War. Jovian became emperor. 

Basil ordained priest. 

Rebellion of Procopius. 

Death of Pope Liberius. 

Council of Tyana. 

Famine in Cappadocia. 

Death of Emmelia. 

Death of Eusebius. Basil became bishop. 

Valens divided the province of Cappadocia. 

Valens at Caesarea. 

Gregory of Nazianzus consecrated bishop. Gregory of Nyssa like- 
wise, a little later. 

Athanasius died. Between 372 and 373 began the estrangement be- 
tween Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus. 

Jovinus of Perrha visited Basil. 

Auxentius died. 

Valentinian died. Between 374 and 375 Gregory of Nazianzus died. 

Gregory of Nyssa deposed. 

Synod of Iconium. 

Basil denounced Eustathius. 

Valens died. 

Basil died. 


PREFACE 


It is necessary to mention special assistance derived from Mr. 
J. M. Campbell’s “Influence of the Second Sophistic upon the 
Style of the Sermons of St. Basil the Great” which was read while 
still in manuscript form, and which furnished interesting and im- 
portant details on sophistic rhetoric. The use of this study much 
facilitated some of the work in connection with Atticism and the 
Second Sophistic. 


The author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness and ex- 
press his sincere gratitude to Dr. Roy J. Deferrari, Head of the 
Departments of Greek and Latin at the Catholic University of 
America, under whose guidance the monograph was written, and 
from whose advice it has materially profited. Thanks are also 
due to Reverend Romanus Butin, S.M., Ph.D. and Reverend A. 
Vaschalde, Ph.D. for having read the manuscript and offered 
many valuable suggestions. 

LV. Jacks. 
Washington, April 22d, 1922. 


μ᾿" 
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 


SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
CHRONOLOGICAL OUTLINE. 
PREFACE. 

CONTENTS. 


ΠΕ ΕΠ ΕΤΟΝ sco al sides ssl wis oie area ΑΒ ΕΠ inne eis geared = ape ttaee ee I 


CHAPTER 


I. CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN LEARNING DURING THE EARLY 


{ἘΠ ΠΕ ΕἸ. ΘΕ RHE, (URE alot Wut ou ay. where Abe Z 

BS PES AStE. S) EDUCAEION SS (itt Wie atin ine Loc ie ρα 18 

RP ET ΝΕ ΘΕ ΤΟ ἢ sen ΤΣ ΟΠ aks hat baa Roe ἀντ Wally ls tally le aide 27 

Teta e ME OEES CAN) Lin Wha Ny diel bere ay ata 27 

PSS ἐδ δἰ τὲ προ ει era Ἡ ΣΑΣ ΤΥ ἘΠ EO SE ες 29 

PUIG Me Sel Mine Minton meen a/c SAA hee, AL LAe 32 

ΠΕ τ εν ANDEIESTORY: 0.04 oid ie ere oe Pd 44 

UPN IS Si rg Pa Noy Cnt aas Var Oe la Wed αν CZ IN A eee Rp 44 

Se PAStOniGd b WW IteRSe Nt 4 bedi hos aici sk aes bene 57 

Perth h PIROSOPIER G2 sao Sy eee nt τ τ τρῶς eats Bee 69 

sie Dried baie 2g ei Lo} (0 0) 1s: POE ne ny ae OUT I θα, 69 

NE EG ays Stat He Ak eM PME LE Sintra Gt Atala ἢ 74 

ΠΥ asc) (TRS ME lg UW PSI PR AC ete ar a 82 

4. Atlan, Plutarch and Late Philosophers....... 105 

IG ia iy Ma et ΤΥ ΤῈ το air Mente ig κυ λοθ all Wk ἦι ἦν. 
INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED BY OR CONNECTED WITH ST 

Eee LG chen remaster ahs Weal PL Usa et 119 

OE EES EE EGOS UE TESS A Dm ξχῶς I2I 


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INTRODUCTION 


The object of this dissertation is to investigate Basil’s knowl- 
edge of Greek literature, and to acquire as far as possible an in- 
sight into his attitude toward it. It is hoped that this object will 
be attained by collecting all direct quotations, all proper names, 
and all expressions and ideas which may with some degree of 
real certainty be attributed to the Greek civilization before him. 
This dissertation is not a study of sources, as such studies are 
generally understood. The common type of source investiga- 
tion is an accumulation of every word, phrase, or idea which has 
even the remotest possibility of indicating a point of contact 
between two authors. By far the greater part of such material 
indicates little or nothing of certainty regarding a writer’s use 
of the works of a predecessor. To repeat, the present study has 
to do only with certain or nearly certain signs of an acquaintance 
with, or an attitude of mind toward, the earlier Greek culture. 
These considerations must be borne in mind, especially in the 
study of the philosophers (Chapter III) to whom Basil is com- 
monly supposed to be greatly indebted. 

The section of Basil’s writings which deals with philosophy 
and those passages which have philosophical tendencies will be 
the most difficult to explain. The stories of history, or the clear 
cut verses of the poets, are followed with comparative ease, but 
the tortuous windings of philosophical thought make a maze that 
is often bewildering to the last degree. Many studies later recog- 
nized as distinct from ἔοσι" 4] philosophy were then hopelessly 
confused with it. Most of the rudimentary forms of science 
were so placed. Writers upon geography, like Strabo, and men 
who recorded the lives and deeds of the philosophers, like 
Diogenes Laertius, appear in simple references. Basil’s phil- 
osophical allusions may be divided roughly into two groups, a 
smaller one, representing very early thought and headed prin- 
cipally by Zeno and Prodicus of Ceos, and a larger one repre- 
senting the acme of Greek philosophy, as set forth by Plato and 


1 


2 
Aristotle. To this latter group a few late writers upon morals and 
conduct, like Plutarch and Marcus Aurelius, form a subsidiary 
class. 

In philosophy, as in history or in poetry, quotations, or more 
or less direct statements that a thinker is responsible for some 
idea, are the simplest indications of the author’s acquaintance with 
the philosophers. But many ideas which were common would 
very likely be mentioned without an authority being cited, and 
with many others perhaps Basil himself was not sure of the origin. 
In the case of philosophy, as in the case of poetry, when increas- 
ing age and care had gradually separated the man from his early 
studies and tended to hold him upon a beaten track of routine 
work, the fine distinctions of the ancient thinkers would be lost 
in the pressure of more immediate concerns. Toward the end 
of his life the saint was an exceedingly busy man and one forced 
to conserve his time. 


Basil’s usage of Plato will call for a great deal of explana- 
tion. Of all the Greek philosophers none could write like Plato 
and none was so well known for literary reasons. Few thinkers 
so well combined good reasoning with such persuasive exposition. 
His very mistakes possessed an attractive appearance, for from 
beginning to end he sought for ideals and so delicately wove them 
into his discourse that the impossibility of the realization of many 
of them was lost sight of in the beauty and dexterity of the gen- 
eral presentation. Again, many of his ideals were as sublime as 
those of any Christian. To quote such a writer was an ever 
present temptation to the Greek speaking orator. Few references 
could be used so effectively, and few would be so certain of in- 
stant recognition as those expressing the ordinary sentiments of 
the famous philosopher. Basil’s various possible borrowings 
from Plato’s philosophical system indicate little certainty regard- 
ing his literary appreciation of the man. However there is suffi- 
cient certain evidence to show that he admired Plato, and it will 
be seen that his literary uses of Plato’s name and works were 
prompted by sincere admiration and esteem. 


The case of Aristotle is different, yet for other reasons equally 
intricate. A man like Aristotle would not be quoted by reason of 
his style and diction, and it will appear that Basil estimates Aris- 
totle’s style very shrewdly. Basil refers to him by name and 
Aristotle’s reputation must have counted with some weight. 
There is no doubt that Basil employed numerous stories and 


8 


references that are obviously Aristotelian. What Basil knew 
about Aristotle and his works will be evident from the usage 
that he makes of his information and the information is con- 
siderable. 


In the case of legend and history (Chapter II) there is less 
material with which to work. It is quite impossible to assign 
many historical instances to definite places and, pointing out an 
author, to say that a certain reference belongs to him, or, citing 
a particular legend, to state that it originated in a certain place 
or with a certain writer. In the confused conditions of early 
Greek legend the best that can be done is to find for these refer- 
ences origins that are at least not unlikely, and if possible to 
locate them with authors who have a right to be considered of 
primary importance both for their own value and according to 
the probability that Basil used them. If a definite quotation is 
given, or an explicit statement that a particular passage is from 
a certain author, that would almost certainly establish the indi- 
vidual instance as being the work of the man in question. Basil's 
truthfulness may be assumed. But his memory was sometimes 
faulty, and many of his citations lie open to the suspicion of being 
nade at random in the course of an oration, or rapidly written 
letter, and never verified. The reasons are natural. A poetical 
quotation may be given word for word, a philosopher may be 
cited in his own phraseology which is needed to convey the pre- 
cise thought, but rarely does anyone endeavor to reproduce an 
historical event in other than his own language, or without em- 
phasizing those shades of the matter which most appeal to his 
own imagination, or are best understood by his own caliber of 
intelligence. Two important things then occur. The original 
wording is lost sight of, and the grouping of events by the historian 
is superseded by the grouping of events which seems best to the 
secondary writer. This may change the entire appearance of 
the actual fact. 


In the case of legend and history, another difficult task is to 
differentiate between a story that can be to some extent verified, 
and narrations that are so far back in antiquity that they rest for 
their authority upon a scanty trace of evidence. More ancient 
than these are the purely legendary materials which have their 
basis presumably upon a foundation of fact somewhere in the 
archaic past, but which cannot possibly be verified. Greek litera- 
ture teems with stories of this nature and anyone well read in 


4 


the early authors could have had an inexhaustible fund of this 
doubtful matter ready for literary use and allusion. Proverbs 
and cant sayings flourished. Apt stories were told of noted 
characters and from year to year were repeated and magnified. 
These things were the common property of the people, and en- 
riched the folk lore in a variety of ways. Wandering minstrels 
giving Homeric recitations seized upon this material and used it 
to advantage. It grew and flourished. 

Finally, as regards the poets (Chapter 1) the case is briefer 
and easier to follow than in any other field. The study of Basil’s 
acquaintance with the poets must of necessity be based largely 
upon quotation. In poetry far less than in prose is a section of 
verse imitated or paralleled in the prose of another writer. A 
striking line or a peculiar word may stay in the memory and later 
be recalled, but this idea of its very nature, being clear cut and 
isolated, has a tendency to keep separated from attendant ideas 
and not to sink back after a short time into the hazy general con- 
dition to which prose information reduces itself. Prose imita- 
tion of great epic or tragic scenes is certainly not uncommon, but 
these cases are susceptible of perception and recognition. 

It is hoped that such ἃ βίαν as this will contribute to a very 
much neglected department of the history of ancient literary 
criticism. The inattention to the Greek Fathers as literary critics 
is strange. For a long time an impression has prevailed that 
they were blindly and unreasoningly opposed to everything pagan, 
and that in Greek literature good and bad alike were obnoxious 
to them. The falsity of such views is constantly being demon- 
strated. The Greek Fathers possessed real and deep feeling for 
classical Greek culture, for Greek ideals, and for Greek literature. 
In the field of ancient literary criticism the Latin Fathers have 
not suffered from corresponding neglect, though they have no 
more reason, if as much, to be favored with this attention. Of 
the Eastern Fathers Chrysostom is the figure upon whom most 
of the attack has been centered, yet Chrysostom is proven from 
his own words to have assailed only the objectionable features 
of paganism. Enlightened pagans had done as much long be- 
fore Chrysostom’s day. It seems strange that in a work such as 
Saintsbury’s “History of Criticism” (New York, 1900.) there 
is not one word regarding the Eastern Fathers, though attention 
is devoted to St. Augustine as the chief exponent of the Latin 
Fathers. In view of the close relationship, at times real unity, 


5 


between the Eastern and Western churches during the early 
centuries, it is interesting to note that although the Latin Fathers 
read the works of the Eastern ones and made great use of them 
in their own writings, and also read at least some of the Greek 
classics, if only in a Latin translation, there is absolutely no 
trace of decisive evidence to show that the reverse is true. It 
cannot be shown that any Greek Father studied a single Latin 
author. There were indeed no early Latin Fathers. For Greek, 
as shown in inscriptions and similar early records, was the offi- 
cial language of the Christians in Rome for the first century and 
part of the second, so that the Latin Fathers proper did not 
come till late and the Greek language had had control in all de- 
partments of early church activity, as far as official transactions 
were concerned, for some time. The extensive adaptation and 
even copying which had always prevailed among Latin writers 
produced many passages that are counterparts of Greek originals 
but in these imitations and borrowings is no trace of evidence 
that the Greek Fathers were ever concerned about the literature 
of their Western confreres. There are no passages in Basil imi- 
tative of Western writers. 


[ "a ὙΠ ΝΣ 

Ab) 1 νι ne 

ee oe ot) ἡ). 

Bray. ty AS ἢ Ν μ᾿ ᾿ν } ᾿ 4 , g ἢ ἢ ᾿ 

ΓΕ ᾿ Ρ le oa , ih 7 , # ¢ *. Ἄ, 4 j J 
balls ᾿ 4 ἢ 

3 ᾿ . ae 8 \ is ᾿ 

WAND) νον ae be ; ἢ 


Moy rey a 
ἐν 
Ῥ) 


ἣν 


Ἢ 
’ é 


ae er Nass i 
᾿ ΠΝ ἫΝ Tei ἌΝ 


CHAPTER I 


CHRISTIAN AND PAGAN LEARNING DURING THE 
EARLY CENTURIES (OR, THE CHURCH 


Educated Christians of the Fourth Century took much the 
same view of culture as prevailed among the more enlightened 
pagans. Fanatics there were of course, but scholarly Christians 
understood the classic models taught and recognized their worth. 
While forming distinct entities, Pagan culture and Christian cul- 
ture had much in common, since all the world looked to ancient 
Athens for its standards. Homer, Euripides, Demosthenes and 
many another were read, taught and studied. It is not surprising 
therefore that educated Christians took a view at least as liberal 
as that of Plato. “Therefore it is imperative that those things 
which the young first hear should be models of moral thought.”? 

The best that the pagan culture of the times could produce 
was the ideal poise of the Periclean Greek mind. And this mind 
“was governed by expediency. Virtue was interpreted in terms 
of patriotism, or constancy to family ties. The citizen of Hero- 
dotus’ tale who lived free from misfortune, saw his children mar- 
ried, prosperous and happy, and then ended his life fighting for 
his country, had lived ideally and was unusually favored by the 
gods.” Physical beauty, balance and address, a mentality col- 
lected, deliberative, and sympathetically attuned to harmony in 
its operations with the world around, and a certain reserve which 
restrained every thought and desire by maintaining a medium of 
moderation both in public and private concerns, clearly defined 
the best stand that Athenian culture could reach. This did not 
suit Christianity at all. 

But a few undeniably Christian virtues existed in the Attic 
theory of rational life. Some points were common. Household 

1 Plato, Republic, 378 E. ἃ πρῶτα axovovow ὅτι κάλλιστα μεμυϑολογη- 


μένα πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἀκούειν. 
2 Cf. Herodotus, I. 30. 


8 


virtues, patriotism, integrity in public and private affairs, respect 
for duly constituted authority, and at least an outward reverence 
for the Deity, were factors in both systems of culture. Through 
these points of mutual interest an understanding was reached 
which prevented a clash that would have been absolutely destruc- 
tive to one or the other. On these grounds both theories of life 
met. Christianity taught a culture less refined but more rugged, 
less artistic in detail but grander in outline and design. Pagan 
culture struck for individual development to the very pinnacle 
of personal and public aggrandizement, in every field. Chris- 
tianity taught self sacrifice. The pagan culture was weary. The 
Christian was young. The outcome was logical. The better 
factors of the old system were appropriated by the new, and the 
elder civilization passed to its final rest. But its finer side was 
not unappreciated and the very men who inherited its wealth of 
thought, of beauty, and of restraint, and who preached a religion 
that spelled its death, were as much alive to its wonders as were 
ever its exponents in the golden age. Christian culture did not 
clash with pagan culture but absorbed it, and so lost many of its 
own ruder qualities. In the time of the Greek Fathers many new 
influences were beginning to take effect and old standards were 
subtly altered. 


A body of Christian literature had begun to develop. It could 
not hope to compete with Attic models but it had followers and 
a value of its own. Christian writers were producing commen- 
taries upon the scriptures, christian romances, ecclesiastical his- 
tories, sermons, orations, apologies, and tracts of many forms. 
The volume of these productions grew steadily. The Church was 
conservative but was also careful to cut away from her doctrines 
all the overgrowing accumulation of legend and tradition which 
throve upon the wonders of the early ages. Hellenism was be- 
ing affected by Christian and Jewish canons of style and aesthetic- 
ism, for Hellenistic literature had received many deep and lasting 
impressions from without. 


Hellenism was a name rather loosely applied to the spirit of 
that Grecian civilization expressing itself chiefly through litera- 
‘ture, art and general culture, which, after pervading the whole 
Greek race, gradually wrought an influence upon peoples not of 
Greek blood who came in contact with it. For instance, a person 
who shared in this intellectual sympathy by writing or thinking 
like the Hellenes would be called Hellenistic. Hellenism was a 


9 


matter not of race but of culture, not of genius but of canons. It 
invented little or nothing, but throve upon the existing literary 
monuments of the past. 

Semitic associations with Hellenism were very large and un- 
usually noticeable. In Egypt the population was about one-seventh 
Jewish and the Jews had spread their trading influences through- 
out all stations of life, altering to some extent many of the older 
and accepted canons of art, literature and aestheticism. The 
Jewish merchants were very numerous and exceedingly active. 
This situation had a decided effect upon the language of the 
people, and a more remote but still very perceptible effect upon 
the written medium. These activities of Semitic representatives 
are perhaps too little recognized, or are even minimized by many 
students of that period. Alexandrian scholars were affected by 
Jewish associations, and their efforts at organization and classi- 
fication had a noticeable strain of Jewish thought. The syncretism 
of Alexandria was deeply shaded by Semitic surroundings. 

The influence of these great schools at Alexandria had spread 
into every field of literature, profoundly affecting it by influenc- 
ing the educational tendencies of the times. Early Christian 
literature had attacked Hellenism violently, because all things 
pagan were coming in for a sweeping condemnation. Christian 
Fathers of the first century had thought pagan philosophy was 
from the devil. But as early as the time of Justin Martyr the 
first destructive and blind opposition had begun to take other 
channels, and Justin, himself originally a pagan philosopher, far 
from abandoning formal philosophy after conversion, cherished 
it as finding its real truth in Christianity.* In his Second Apology 
Justin has occasion to refer to himself as “taking delight in the 
teachings of Plato” and in the opening chapter of the Dialogue 
with Trypho, writes, “Do not philosophers make all their disputa- 
tions about God, said he, and do not debates arise upon every oc- 
casion about His unity and His foreknowledge? Assuredly, he 
replied, and so we understand.’” 

But the pagan culture pointed toward an object distinctly 
different from that which the early Christians had in mind, and 


3 Cf. Eusebius, H. E., 4, 18, 6. 

4 Justin Martyr, Second Apology, 12, 1. τοις Πλάτωνος χαίρων διδάγ- 
μασι. 

5 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, I. 3,4. οὐχ οἱ φιλόσοφοι περὶ 
ϑεοῦ τὸν ἅπαντα ποιοῦνται λόγον ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγε, καὶ περὶ μοναρχίας αὐτοῖς 
καὶ προνοίας αἱ ζητήσεις γίνονται ἑκάστοτε; Ἢ οὐ τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστι φιλοσο- 
pias ἐξετάζειν περὶ τοῦ ϑείου; Ναὶ, ἔφην, οὕτω καὶ ἥμεις δεδοξάκαμεν. 


10 


the wisdom at which the Greek philosophers aimed had entirely 
left out of account the high religious ideas of the Christians. To 
this fatal defect the Fathers naturally objected. 


The question of Hellenism then was one on which the Fathers 
were fairly united. It was the dominant spirit of pagan culture. 
The finer phases of pagan civilization had been nothing if not 
Hellenistic. Politically, Hellenism was dead; artistically, it was 
experiencing all the finely wrought involution of a self conscious 
over-development recoiling upon itself, and such elaborate striv- 
ings for a perfection which weakened and lowered the original 
as characterize helpless and hopeless decadence. Socially and 
morally its essence was decay. It stood for a great age. But 
that age was gone. Hellenism was becoming Asiatic. 


Asianism was a development in the field of rhetoric which 
infused into Greek public speech on the continent the more strik- 
ing features of thought and oratory common to the Asiatic type 
of mind, and resulted in building up on the groundwork of Greek 
language and style, an accumulation of such details as appealed 
to the fanciful eastern intellect, a great deal of vivid coloring, an 
extraordinarily figurative address, a tendency to expression 
through the medium of parables and apothegms, and a weakness 
for far-fetched metaphors in which the implication is not always 
clear. In contrast, Atticism was the literary movement which at 
first tended to regulate literature according to the canons of style 
which had prevailed among Attic writers of the classical period, 
but later degenerated, and instead of employing Attic standards as 
an inspiration and guide, because of their purity and symmetry, 
insisted upon imitation of things Attic for little other reason than 
that they were Attic. While it led to some good, because it made 
brief headway against the tide of extreme Asianism, yet it 
ultimately became essentially artificial and lifeless. With these 
two tendencies is connected the movement called the New or 
Second Sophistic. This latter activity started out as an attempt 
simply to revive Greek Rhetoric, and prevailed over Greece and 
Asia Minor for approximately four centuries, dating from about 
the end of the first century A. D. It strove to restore the style 
of ancient Greek Rhetoric by close imitation of various ancient 
masters such as Lysias, Isocrates and Demosthenes. In its be- 
ginnings it was Atticism, but many contemporary influences pre- 
vented it from arriving at the pure Grecian oratory which most 
of the sophists would have liked to revive, the most important 


11 


of these influences being Asianism itself. In other words the 
Second Sophistic was Asianism with Atticism superimposed. But 
whatever the scholars of the day might name it, the spirit that 
prevailed was not Attic, or Hellenistic. The ideals that were 
set up and striven for constituted florid and extravagant Asianism. 
In a few places a stand had been made. But the prevalent litera- 
ture shows very little of perfect aesthetic taste, or of the classic 
spirit of restraint. Tropes, figures, artificialities, rhetoric for its 
own sake, an inexhaustible stock of commonplaces, the most 
astounding and extravagant forms of compliment with invective 
proportionately vicious, were all synthetized into a system of 
glaring coloring and hyperbolical imagery. Its qualities signified 
the exotic and unhealthy nature of its strained development. 

Church leaders clearly interpreted all the better things of the 
sophistic rhetoric of the day, but equally clearly understood and 
opposed the worse qualities that accompanied it. They were not 
alone. Some pagan professors stood out for a better grade of 
Hellenism, but a language expresses the spirit of its time, and the 
spirit of that time had but little kinship with that of old Greece, 
except in so far as it was pagan. The word Hellene meant in 
that day only a pagan. Julian, in speaking of his subjects, regu- 
larly refers to Hellenes, Hebrews, and Galiieans, as he called the 
Christians. The fact that he assailed the Christian religion by 
forbidding the Christian teachers to explain the classics would 
argue that the Christians had been delving into pagan literature 
rather noticeably.® 


The whole question of Christian education was very much de- 
bated but it is clear that this was a problem that the Church dealt 
with very differently in different places. At no time were pagan 
classics absolutely condemned, and among Christians after the 
first century the regard for pagan scholarship increased. But 
where conditions made it impossible for Christians to go far into 
this field without endangering their faith, such studies were not 
encouraged. But the greater minds of the Church recognized 
the value in all the finer parts of pagan civilization and busied 
themselves in appropriating these for the benefit of Christian 
education.” For, to smooth away some of the rudeness inevitably 

6 For a discussion of this legislation by Julian confer Allard, Julien 
L’Apostate, Tom. II., La legislation scolaire de Julien. 

7 There was a catechetical school at Alexandria of which Pantene was 


the first head. Clement lectured there between the years 190 and 202 a.p. It 
was probably the best and most noted Christian school. 


12 


connected with its origin among the unlettered classes, Chris- 
tianity needed the help of this dying civilization. The Christian | 
religion, rising from among poor and unsophisticated people, 
brought with it some of their views of culture and education. 
But the new creed had rapidly seized all classes and enlisted the 
highest and most learned, and these acquisitions almost imper- 
ceptibly altered some of the older opinions. Justin Martyr had 
lectured in a school of philosophy at Rome, and had given educa- 
tion a trend by the influence he had there exerted. His conver- 
sion had another effect.® 

Thus, while educated Christians were carefully sifting through 
pagan studies and delving into what did not assail their faith 
and morals, at the same time they were hastening the development 
of the Christian literature that had begun to form. New fields 
were opened and thought took many new turns. The variety of 
Christian activities is amazing. For example, when Julian’s 
edict hampered the Christians’ study of the Greek classics, the 
two Apollinares made themselves famous in Christian literature 
by paraphrasing a large part of the Old Testament in imitation 
of Plato’s dialogues, and re-writing some sections in epic style.° 
The literary value of such work is doubtful, but the zeal and 
activity of the writers and their acquaintance with the classics 
is in no doubt. 

The training of the Christian young was gradually growing 
to have new objects and new needs. In the time of the three 
Cappadocians the violent pagan persecutions had passed, and 
toleration existed in the Empire. Since religion could be openly 
practiced and argued there was greater need for highly educated 
exponents. Ability to preach, teach and explain, had become more 
important than sheer zeal and a courage for martyrdom. Edu- 
cated and capable Christian leaders became a necessity. But 
Christian schools were few. That at Alexandria was the most 
famous.’® Others existed at Nisibis, Edessa and Antioch in the 
East, and at Rome, Milan and Carthage in the West. Perforce 
education was largely sought in pagan centers and Christian minds 
bent to the task of eliminating paganism from what was taught 
in the schools, and then, from what remained, selecting such 
material as best served Christianity. In this striving for educa- 


5 For a brief account of Justin’s school see Lalanne, Influence des Peres 
de l’Eglise sur l’education publique, p. 17 and 18. 


9 Cf. Socrates, H. E., 3, 16, for a discussion of this event. 
10 Cf. Lalanne, Op. cit. p. 31. 


18 


tion, the Hellenism of the day was variously received. The essen- 
tial balance and finesse of the Greek mind, the mean of phil- 
osophical calm and perfect address, and the shrewd reasoning, 
were praised and sought for steadily. The historian Socrates 
mentions these studies at length and tells how the Christians strove 
for greater perfection, and were extremely careful in their studies 
of the pagan authors, to gain all the mechanical tricks of pagan 
skill without adopting the false ideas that pervaded the works. 
He reminds the Christian reader that the Apostle himself was 
instructed in Greek learning and did not seem to neglect it, and 
certainly did not forbid any one else to study 1{.᾽} 


Literary education, much as it was needed, carried with it the 
menace of a lapse into the shallow sophistry characteristic of 
the times. Hence it was considered carefully, even dubiously, 
but those churchmen who understood the situation were unani- 
mously in favor of the spread of literary education among the 
Christians. 


They had a keen sense of the worth of higher studies. Justin 
Martyr above quoted, says, “Is not this the province of philosophy, 
to inquire about God? Assuredly, he replied, and so we under- 
stand.’22 Clement of Alexandria, in his Exhortation to the 
Greeks, successively commends Plato, Antisthenes, Socrates, 
Xenophon, Cleanthes, and some of the Pythagorean doctrines, 
pointing out the ethical purity of their views and teachings, and 
saying “These doctrines through the inspired intention of God 
were written by their authors and we have selected them. To 
lead one toward a full knowledge of God these teachings are 
enough for anyone who can seek the truth even to a small extent.” 
Then continuing in the same section to commend the poets, he 
preaches in favor of the Greek authors.’* After these remarks 
about the philosophers he begins in the following chapter to cite 
the poets by name. ‘“Aratus then, indeed, knows that the power 
of God animates the universe.”!* Again in the same section he 


LCF Socrates: Fi) i, *3, 16. 

12 Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, I., 3. 4. Ἢ οὐ τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστὶ 
φιλοσοφίας, ἐξετάζειν περὶ τοῦ ϑείου; Ναὶ, ἔφην, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς δεδοξάκαμεν. 

13 Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ch. 6. ἀπόχρη καὶ 
τάδε εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ϑεοῦ ἐπιπνοίᾳ ϑεοῦ πρὸς αὐτῶν μὲν ἀναγεγραμμένα πρὸς 
δὲ ἡμῶν ἐξειλεγμένα τῷ λε καὶ σμικρὸν διαϑρεῖν ἀλήϑειαν δυναμένῳ. 

14 Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ch. 7. “Agatos 
μὲν οὖν διὰ πάντων τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ϑεοῦ διήκειν νοεῖ. 


14 


says of Hesiod, “In the same spirit the Ascraean Hesiod likewise 
speaks about God.’’?” 

More quotations of the same order are offered, such names as 
Homer, Orpheus, Euripides and others being cited. 


There can be no doubt whatever that the really great leaders 
of the Christians took a view of literary education at once highly 
cultured and eminently sensible. As might have been expected, 
the Fathers’ views of Atticism followed their views of literary 
education. All their writings are pervaded by the influences of 
the prevalent literary and stylistic movements, and it seems at 
times that the more they endeavor to be natural, the more forced 
and labored are their efforts. Among the teachers of the inflated 
rhetoric which then prevailed it was a common habit to carry 
the sophisms of professional speech and the stock idioms of their 
lecture courses into their regular conversation, so that even their 
everyday speech took on a bombastic and semi-theatrical tone. 
Inability to be at home in such a grotesquely academic conversa- 
tion, whether it resulted from never having studied such matters, 
or from having forgotten them and resumed the diction of the 
people, would be embarrassing to a scholar addressing a sophist. 
So this situation affected even the ordinary language of the people. 


Orators of the fourth century, pagan and Christian alike, were 
steeped in the rhetorical influences of the times. The hyper- 
bolical compliment, the profusion of figures, the hollow self de- 
preciation, the flowery and gaudy tone, the wild flights of fancy, 
were all as natural to them as the air they breathed. Beyond 
doubt the efforts for Attic purity of speech were cherished among 
many men of learning. Grammarians and scholars labored as- 
siduously to interpret, explain and teach the best of the Attic 
writers. No standard could be better than that of ancient Athens, 
so they would have no other. Basil thinks it a high compliment 
to call one’s tongue Attic. His view was typical. So much in 
fact did some scholars, especially the Alexandrians, insist upon 
studying, commenting upon, and above all imitating the classical 
authors that an idea arose, and for many years prevailed, that 
all the Alexandrians never did anything more than servilely 
imitate their classical predecessors. It was believed that they 
produced endless arrays of cold and ponderous imitations of 
Hesiod and Homer, and their kinsfolk the cyclic poets, great lists 


18 Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ch. 7. ταύτῃ τοι 
καὶ ὁ ᾿Ασχραῖος αἰνίττεται Ἡσίοδος τὸν ϑεόν. 


15 


of dull and spiritless tragedies modelled after Euripides, and 
that in like fashion, in other fields of literature, they exhausted 
their strength in copying and nothing more. These conclusions 
were not entirely true, though drawn from premises undoubtedly 
true, namely that the Alexandrians remained almost blindly faith- 
ful to the ancient classics and made them the center of all their 
study. 

But in the age of Himerius, of Prohairesius, of Libanius, with 
the models of classic Atticism before him, a man of letters whether 
he was christian or pagan, was tinged with Atticism. Education 
had centered in points of learning. There scholarship flourished. 
Only at large libraries were there the best opportunities. This 
was inevitable in an age of no printing. Libraries were few. 
Hand made and hand written books took time, labor,-and money 
as well. So professors established themselves at these centers 
where they read, studied, lectured, and wrote commentaries and 
imitations. In smaller places libraries were imperfect, or lacking, 
and the facilities for university life impossible. But at Athens 
the center of classicism, and at Alexandria, for many years en- 
dowed by the Ptolemies, there were vast degrees of wealth, of 
resources, of general opportunities. Here the finer phases of 
Attic influence were keenly studied and highly valued.*®° Time 
and custom had added their touch of magnificence to these an- 
cient schools. Scholars traveled from far and near to reach these 
centers or to hear the more famous professors. Basil’s wander- 
ing journeys to hear the philosopher Eustathius’’ are a fair index 
to the difficulties under which students sometimes sought their 
more advanced education. 


It is not unreasonable then to believe that in their literary 
studies and education the Fathers were quite as ready to accept 
the high and noble sentiments of Atticism as the scholars of today. 
As they recognized the need for education, and argued for it 
systematically, they exerted a great influence over the systems of 
schooling then prevalent. Hence their attitude toward the second 
sophistic is one of curiously seeming contradiction, true and yet 
apparently inconsistent. Every faulty influence was readily 
marked and exposed by them, but the orators who spoke in the 
eastern churches showed every rhetorical trick of the period. 

16 In ch. 23 of his oration at Basil’s funeral, Gregory Nazienzen gives 


a sketch of the variety of studies and readings in which students at Athens 


could engage. 
AU CP. Teetter: 1: 


16 


They had, however, perhaps the least objectionable elements of 
the sophistic and judging their speeches without considering their 
audiences would be deeply unfair. Asianism in its last develop- 
ments was thoroughly objectionable, yet in the beginning it had 
served a definite purpose. The highly imaginative, fickle, and 
restless intellects of these peoples responded better to such stimuli 
than to any other. If the writer, or rhetor, in his desire to please, 
to refute, or to be stylistic, overran all the bounds of good taste 
according to Athenian models, he did it at least in the conscious- 
ness that the reader or hearer was fully in sympathy, and might 
be engaged in estimating the merits of the composition by the 
extravagence in diction or imagery. 


The attitude of the Fathers toward sophistic rhetoric was 
colored by the fact that nearly all the great church leaders were 
also great speakers, and some, like Basil, had been professional 
rhetoricians or sophistic teachers, or had had some connection 
with the greater schools of declamation. Very few thought of 
sophistic influence without a bias of some sort. After all, a 
speaker must persuade. If he cannot, he might as well not speak. 
The Church had bitter assailants. Necessity weighed upon the 
speakers who defended the orthodox creed. The homoousion 
quarrel had shaken the Eastern Church to its foundations, and 
heresies were rampant. The fathers might condemn the shal- 
lowness of sophistic, but they used its figures, they raged against 
its irreligious tendencies but they found its melodious diction an 
asset. Its quibbling and hair splitting disgusted them, neverthe- 
less it was popular and they had to preach to the people. The 
seeming contradiction between their attitude toward sophistic 
and their actual practice, is in reality no contradiction. A view 
has long prevailed that they were united in a sweeping condemna- 
tion of the whole movement. But this is no more true than that 
they unreservedly favored it. Sophistic influence prevailed with 
the people. The faith had to be represented in terms that the 
people could understand. Christian orators followed the mean, 
generally with good success. Basil’s sermons are close reasoning. 
Frequently they are also highly figurative. With two such dif- 
ferently constituted characteristics, the greatest skill was re- 
quired to make them fit side by side. 


The attitude of the Fathers then, on this question of the sec- 


ond sophistic must be properly understood. As in their ideas 
upon education they strove patiently to make clear the distinction 


17 


that what was great and noble in the pagan classics was well 
worthy of admiration and imitation, while the degenerate ele- 
ments that had crept in were to be sedulously avoided, so, in their 
views of sophistic, they endeavored to distinguish definitely be- 
tween the formal rhetoric with the practical devices of a writer, 
reader, or speaker, and the unworthy ends to which such devices 
when improperly employed or controlled, frequently tended. Un- 
fortunately there was often a hopeless entanglement between 
the devices of sophistic ingenuity and the shallow consequences in 
which their better strength was wasted. 

Hence the spirit that animated the whole work of the Fathers 
and the view that they regularly advanced of sophistic must be 
understood in connection with these two points. They preached 
to pagan and Christian. But to do this they had to use the medium 
of the day which the people would understand. This was the 
popular rhetoric, saturated with many foreign forms, and tran- 
sient elements, literary, political, social, religious, Christian, Alex- 
andrian, Semitic, Hellenic and pure Asiatic. Thus, to illustrate 
their views they used whatever pagan medium they could employ 
which would promise telling effect without being in itself perni- 
cious or condemned. 


CHAPTER II 
ST, ΒΑΘ EDUCATION 


Basil’s religious education was begun at a very early age and 
was kept up without intermission during the years that he spent 
at home. Training of a very austere type prevailed. His father, 
Basil, and mother, Emmelia, were Christians of the most pious 
kind, and the whole household was apparently more or less under 
the control of Basil’s grandmother, Macrine. While the elder 
Basil taught rhetoric at Neocaesarea, the old Macrine directed 
the concerns of the family which was located at Annesi, and in- 
structed the children in the teachings of Gregory Thaumaturgus 
and his successors. Basil and his brothers, Peter of Sebaste and 
Gregory of Nyssa, all became saints by acclamation, while their 
sister, the younger Macrine, attained the same distinction, too. 
The three brothers became prominent in the church of Cappa- 
docia, and all were bishops. These facts speak significantly for 
the old Macrine’s methods of training. The religious teachings 
given by Macrine concluded with studies in the lives of the earlier 
saints, and some chanting of psalms. Her recollections reached 
back to times of actual persecution (Diocletian’s), and she had 
been personally acquainted with Gregory Thaumaturgus, so that 
her discourses were based upon a background of personal knowl- 
edge, observation and experience, which would make her dis- 
course particularly impressive. The saint was deeply affected 
by Macrine’s words. Asa child he was physically weak, sensitive, 
and even sickly, and his infirmities seem to have continued with 
him throughout life, and perhaps being aggravated by the hard- 
ships of his asceticism, and the later worry and strain of his epis- 
copal career, had much to do with hastening his death. Children 
less sensitive than Basil would have received lasting effects from 
such teachings and surroundings. 

Much of our information about Basil’s early life is of doubt- 
ful worth. Scattered references in his own works, Gregory of 
Nyssa in his life of Saint Macrine, and Gregory of Nazianzus in 


18 


19 


some indirect references and mainly in his funeral oration over 
Basil furnish about all the indices we have to the saint’s career. 
It is to be remembered, too, that Gregory of Nazianzus was not 
a companion of Basil’s extreme youth and got his information 
from sources other than observation. Conjecture thus enters 
very largely into the study of Basil’s youth and, indeed, of the 
greater part of his life. Many of the dates are hopelessly con- 
fused. 


Basil’s home life then gave him, besides a strong religious foun- 
dation, something of an insight into classical literature, for Ma- 
crine had her youthful students read the more elevated passages 
of the Greek poets and gave them many points of advice in such 
amusements. The father had planned brilliant careers for his 
sons, and in due time dispatched them to Caesarea, the capital 
and chief city of Asia Minor, where he himself at one time had 
been a teacher. Caesarea was almost entirely Christian, and 
Basil and Gregory, who went there together, could have found 
but little paganism to allure them. They could hardly have found 
anything else either, for the schools were poor and Cappadocia 
not highly intellectual. In more cosmopolitan centers Cappa- 
docians were considered extremely provincial and uncouth. Per- 
haps the most important part of their education in Caesarea was 
the friendship that they formed with Gregory of Nazianzus. In 
the funeral oration Gregory dwells admiringly upon Basil’s pro- 
ficiency in his studies while at Caesarea, saying that the saint 
appeared better than his teachers. Possibly this brilliancy 
hastened their departure to more noted centers of learning where 
the teachers were more practised. Byzantium, the great head- 
quarters of the Eastern Empire, drew their attention. 


It is to be marked closely that upon leaving Caesarea they prac- 
tically left sure Christian teaching and committed themselves to 
pagan schools. Christian professors existed in these too, but the 
influences were not professedly Christian as had been the case 
in Caesarea, but rather professedly pagan. Gregory of Nazianzus 
went to Alexandria and Basil to Constantinople. Basil probably 
attended the lectures of Libanius, the celebrated sophist, and his 
studies in Greek were particularly successful, resulting in a per- 
sonal friendship with Libanius. But he acquired an excellent 
insight into true Hellenic studies, and in consequence decided to 
seek Athens. Libanius, if his letters are any index, had the deep- 
est respect for his pupil's talents. 


20 


Just where Basil met Libanius is a much discussed question. 
It seems that with such data as now exist no absolutely certain 
conclusion follows.t There is no definite statement anywhere to 
the effect that Basil studied with Libanius in Constantinople. But 
the chronology of Libanius’ career in Constantinople and Nico- 
media makes such an event possible, and Libanius was undoubtedly 
one of the greatest teachers of his time. This gives reason to 
suspect that Libanius is the man meant by Gregory of Nazianzus 
when he says in the funeral oration that Basil studied with the 
most famous of the sophists and philosophers of Constantinople 
during the stay there. 


From Constantinople Basil went to Athens. At its university 
paganism and Hellenism were making their final stand. Here he 
began his regular and systematic studies. Gregory of Nazianzus 
had arrived there from Alexandria shortly before. Greek litera- 
ture was, of course, the keynote to the whole system of university 
education. Basil and Gregory studied philosophy and _ logic, 
rhetoric and grammar, which latter was at that time very com- 
prehensive and embraced a variety of lesser studies, and some 
rudiments of the sciences of astronomy, geometry, mathematics 
and medicine.? In the literary studies Homer was supreme. 
Christian and Pagan alike took the two great epics as the pinnacle 
of fine literature. Hesiod and the tragic poets came next. Pindar 


1 Wilhelm von Christ states explicitly (Gr. Liter. Gesch. III., p. 801) 
that Basil was at Libanius’ school in Nicomedia, and that later, when 
Libanius taught at Antioch, Basil the Great, with Theodorus of Mopsuestia, 
and Gregory Nazienzen were his scholars. He gives a note to Socrates’ 
Ecclesiastical History, but the reference is confused and the Basil there men- 
tioned was probably a man of the same name who was bishop of Raphanea, 
and not Basil the Great. It is all a confused question. Opposed to von 
Christ are Lothholz, Dorgens, Scholl and Schafer, who gave Constantinople 
as the place of Basil’s meeting with the sophist. Lothholz (1857, Basilius des 
Grossen Rede an christliche Jiinglinge, p. 11) writes “In Constantinople he 
heard as it seems the celebrated sophist Libanius,” apparently accepting 
the statement of Niebuhr (Vortr. δ. alt. Gesch. 3, 539). Dorgens writes: 
“It was also in Constantinople where he became the friend and auditor of 
the sophist Libanus, fifteen years older than himself.” (Dorgens, Der 
heilige Basilius und die classischen Studien, p. 5, 1857.) And in 1881 Scholl, 
discussing the matter (in a footnote), writes: “In Constantinople he came 
into relations with the heathen philosopher Libanius.” (Scholl, Die Lehre 
des heiligen Basilius von der Gnade, p. 1.) J. Schafer in 1909 writes, “From 
there (Czsarea) Basil went to Constantinople ... there he also heard 
Libanius.” (J. Schafer, Basilius des Grossen Beziehungen zum Abendlande, 
p. 38.) Schafer dismisses the case for Nicomedia in a footnote (p. 38) 
because Gregory of Nazienzen says nothing of it. Otto von Bardenhewer, 
in his Gesch. d. altkir. Lit., says nothing on either side. 

2 Cf. Gregory Nazienzen, Oratio in laudem Basilii Magni, ch. 23 ff. 


21 


seems to have been a favorite, according to Gregory, and the his- 
torians Thucydides and Herodotus furnished prose records of 
more ancient times, while the orations of Lysias, Isocrates and 
Demosthenes were the models of public speech. Aristotle and 
Plato appear to have been the main philosophers, but Basil betrays 
a wide acquaintance with other Greek thinkers, some of whom are 
very early. Other studies also had been well developed. Euclid 
in geometry, Strabo in geography, Ptolemy in mathematical 
astronomy and geography, Archimedes in mathematics and me- 
chanics, Eratosthenes in scientific chronology, Galen in medicine, 
were all known, and read and studied. So, if Basil’s scientific 
courses were diligently followed, he would have had some very 
_ fair leaders, but Basil, to judge from his own writings, did not 
learn much science, or rapidly forgot what he did learn. His 
geography is especially faulty. In literary fields the body of folk 
lore, legend and story which had grown up over the earlier litera- 
ture was tremendous, and in its turn exercised an influence over 
studies. A vast quantity of commentaries upon such authors as 
Plato, Homer and the tragic poets was accessible to students. 
Grammarians, mostly from Alexandria, compiled these studies, 
and as early as 170 B. C. had begun to quarrel over such ques- 
tions as that of Homeric unity, with the arguments based upon 
the style of the two epics. Such a stand implied true literary 
criticism. 

There was a well developed connection between the schools of 
Alexandria and Athens. They had much in common. Neoplatonic 
doctrines found places in both universities. Athens was the 
capital of the literary world, but Alexandria had the Museum and 
great institutions of the Ptolemies, with wealth, and scholarship, - 
and genius, and a library unique in ancient times. Science was 
fully at home in Alexandria. The two schools had good reasons 
for their relationship.® 


Basil had therefore many excellent opportunities at his com- 
mand, an exceptionally famous university for his studies, a cur- 
riculum decidedly liberal, and teachers like Himerius and Pro- 
hairesius, who were of world-wide renown. It is no exaggeration 
to say that he was very fortunate. But the atmosphere of the 
university was frankly pagan. Retaining the severely Catholic 
spirit of provincial Cappadocia, Basil and Gregory kept as clear 
as they could of surrounding influences, going from their lecture 


8 Cf. Jules Simon, Histoire de l’école d’Alexandrie, Tom. 2, Bk. 5, ch. 1. 


99 


rooms to their quarters and back as quietly and unobtrusively as 
possible, and regularly frequenting the churches. Life at the 
Athenian school, while democratic, throve upon the intensest 
rivalry among students and professors. Older scholars fell upon 
newcomers and hustled them away to their favorite rhetoricians. 
New men went through a variety of rough treatment by way of 
initiation. General student life showed many of the same peculi- 
arities that it does today in its democratic activities, its genial dis- 
regard for city laws, and habits of hazing the freshmen.* 


Such was the general situation in which Basil placed himself 
at Athens. He set to work vigorously at his studies. Though 
rhetorical exaggerations color Libanius’ letters to Basil, there 15 
no room to doubt that this last great pagan rhetor had the highest 
regard for the saint’s talents, studies and scholarly development. 
The correspondence between Libanius and Basil, like their meet- 
ing in Constantinople, has come in for a great deal of criticism. 
The letters are not adinitted by some critics to be genuine. With- 
out entering at length into a discussion of this tangled case, it is 
still possible to point out a few matters of primary importance. 
Though some think the correspondence false, it has never been 
proved such. The letters do not condemn themselves by any 
gross errors or evident contradictions. Tillemont in his “Notes 
sur 5. Basile’ argues strongly for the authenticity of the cor- 
respondence, urging that the letters have all the possible marks 
of truth. Bardenhewer, in discussing Basil’s correspondence, 
gives it as von Seeck’s opinion that the letters are genuine.® In 
reviewing the sources for Basil’s life and writings, J. Schafer 
gives the combined opinions in favor of the authenticity of the 
letters and stands for this view himself.’ 


Though personal friendship may have raised the estimation 
somewhat, Gregory lauds Basil’s diligence and attention to studies 
during the life at Athens.* Too much stress cannot be laid upon 
the fact that Basil’s training in these years was essentially non- 
Christian. It would not give the correct idea to say that it was 
essentially pagan. A distinction must be kept clear. The studies 
originated, the curriculum was arranged, the university life and 

4 Cf. Gregory Nazienzen, Oratio in laudem Basilii Magni, ch. 14 and 15. 

5 Cf. Tillemont, Notes sur S. Basile, Tom. IX., p. 659, No. 36. 

6 Cf. Bardenhewer, Gesch. d. Altkir. Lit., p. 157. 

7Cf. J. Schafer, Basilius des Grossen Beziehungen zum Abendlande, 


Ῥ. 5. 
8 Cf. Gregory Nazienzen, Oratio in laudem Basilii Magni, ch. 21. 


23 


tradition were founded in strictly pagan times, but some of the 
students were now Christians, some of the schedule was made out 
by Christian teachers, and some of the studies were to a partial 
extent controlled by the Christians. Still the atmosphere was at 
best frankly pagan and in these surroundings Basil went through 
his advanced studies. 

In his Speech to the Youths, Basil remarks, in reference to 
use of pagan authors, “If, therefore, some relationship to each 
other exists between these literatures, knowledge of them would 
be helpful to you.”® Further he remarks, “But that this pagan 
learning is not unprofitable to the soul is sufficiently explained.””° 
The poets, Basil says, are to be read when “‘they expound for you 
the words and deeds of good men, and you should love and imitate 
them and earnestly endeavor to be the same.”"? . But he adds 
instantly, “When they portray impure men it is necessary to avoid 
such conduct, stopping up your ears no less than Odysseus, as 
they say, against the songs of the Sirens.’ Gregory of Nazianzus 
in his eulogy of Basil dwells admiringly and at length upon Basil's 
proficiency in his pagan studies and was himself an earnest student 
with the pagan rhetor Himerius. Gregory of Nyssa pursued 
courses of similar study and was also a vigorous worker. 


In his letters Basil regularly uses terms of endearment, of 
affectation, of hyperbolical compliment, and in many parts of his 
discourses exhibits an exaggeration as violent as that of the 
formal teachers of rhetoric, which profession he indeed followed, 
as will be seen later. Yet Basil is restraint itself compared with 
John Chrysostom and some other speakers. In addressing 
Leontius, the sophist, Basil writes as an apologetic introduction 
to his letter, “And it is perhaps being lowered by too much par- 
ticipation in common conversation that probably causes the re- 
maining hesitation in engaging in speech with you Sophists.”?* 
In the same letter Basil says, “You being the ablest speaker of the 

9775 B. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐδτί τις οἰκειότης πρὸς ἀλλήλους τοῖς λόγοις, 
προὔργου ἂν ἡμῖν αὐτῶν ἣ γνῶσις γένοιτο. 

10775 C. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅτι μὲν οὐκ ἄχρηστον ψυχαῖς μαϑήματα τὰ ἔξωϑεν δὴ 
ταῦτα, ἱκανῶς εἴρηται. 

11475, C. ᾽Αλλ᾽ ὅταν μὲν τὰς τῶν ἀγαϑῶν ἀνδρῶν πράξεις ἢ λόγους 
ὑμῖν διεξίωσιν, ἀγαπᾷν τε καὶ ζηλοῦν, καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα πειρᾶσϑαι τοιούτους 
εἶναι. 

1217ς, D. ὅταν δὲ ἐπὶ μοχϑηροὺς ἄνδρας ἔλθωσι τὴν μίμησιν ταύτην δεῖ 
φεύγειν ἐπιφρασσομένους τὰ ὦτα οὐχ ἧττον ἢ τὸν ᾽Οδυσσέα φασὶν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ 
τῶν Σειρήνων μέλη. ξ 

13 Letter 20. καὶ τὸ olovel ἐρρυπῶσϑαι λοιπὸν τῇ, κατακορεῖ συνηϑείᾳ 
πρὸς ἰδιωτισμὸν ὄκνον εἰκότως ἐμποιεῖ προσφϑέγγεσθϑαι ὑμᾶς τοὺς σοφιστάς. 


24 


Greeks, I think that I know the most renowned among you.’”** In 
setting Leontius above such famous orators of the time as 
Libanius and Himerius, without even mentioning more famous 
ones who had gone before, Basil was following the style of con- 
ventional sophistic compliment. Writing to Libanius, he begins, 
‘My fear and ignorance dissuade me from writing to you, who 
are so learned.’?° Libanius had referred to Basil in terms of the 
most extravagant compliment, saying that fountains of words live 
upon his lips; that he is Homer, Plato, Aristotle ; that (compared 
with Basil) Demosthenes lived in vain; that he is golden tongued, 
and similar expressions. Again Basil begins a letter with these 
words, “Reading your oration, O wisest of men, I am struck 
with wonder. O Muses, O Learning, O Athens, what gifts do you 
not give your lovers?’’?® Addressing Libanius at another time, “I 
am pleased at receiving what you have written me, but to your 
importunities for an answer to what you have written, I find 
myself in a quandry. For what can I say to so Attic a tongue, 
except that I am a pupil of fishermen, and that I admit and take 
satisfaction in it.’’*7 

In the right study of Greek literature Basil found the best 
and purest of Hellenic speech and custom, remarking that “We 
must attend chiefly to the many passages in the poets, and in the 
historians, and especially to those passages in the philosophers, 
in which they praise virtue.’’** It would be of no avail to study 
the pagan authors if not thoroughly, and of no moral good, if not 
discriminatingly. Basil was very insistent that his students dis- 
criminate intelligently in their studies. 


It is worth remarking of Basil that in his many ecclesiastical 
difficulties, his religious-political struggles with Valens, in the 
strange disagreement with his ghostly superior Eusebius, all the 
entangling troubles that followed up the council of Nicea never 
affected his ready flow of rhetoric nor his admiration for things 


14 Letter 20. ἐπιτήδειον ὄντα εἰπεῖν, Ov αὐτὸς olda Ἑλλήνων, ofa γὰρ 
ὡς οἶμαι τοὺς ὀνομαστοτάτους “τῶν ἐν ὑμῖν. 

16 Letter 344. τὸ μὴ συνεχῶς με γράφειν πρὸς τὴν σὴν παιδεὺυσιν, πεὶ- 
ϑουσι τό τε δέος καὶ ἡ ἀμαϑία. 

16 Letter 353. ᾿Ανέγνων τὸν λόγον σοφώτατε, καὶ ὑπερτεϑαύμαχκα. *Q 
μοῦσαι, καὶ λόγοι, καὶ ᾿Αϑῆναι, οἷα τοῖς ἐρασταῖς δωρεῖσθϑε. 

17 Letter 356. Δεχομένοις μὲν ἡμῖν ἃ γράφεις χαρά. ἀπαιτουμένοις, δὲ 
πρὸς ἃ γράφεις ἀντεπιστέλλειν, ἀγών. τί γὰρ ἂν εἴποιμεν πρὸς οὕτως 
ἀττικίζουσαν γλῶτταν, πλὴν ὅτι ἁλιέων εἰμὶ μαϑητὴς ὁμολογῶ καὶ φιλῶ; 

18176, D. εἰς ταύτην δὲ πολλὰ μὲν ποιηταῖς, πολλὰ δὲ συγγραφεῦσι, 
πολλῷ δὲ ἔτι πλείω φιλοσόφοις ἀνδράσιν ὕμνηται τοῖς τοιούτοις τῶν λόγων 
μάλιστα προσεκτέον. 


25 


Hellenic. Enemies of the saint never attacked him on grounds 
other than dogmatic, for his reputation was unassailable. The 
intense admiration felt for him by the natives enabled him to 
easily eclipse Eusebius. 


Basil is not free, though, from being affected with no end in 
view beyond an impression, and makes such remarks as these: 
“But now your wealth clings to you closer than the limbs of your 
body, and separation from it pains you like the amputation of 
your vital parts.”*® Hinting at the asceticism of Annesi, he says 
to his wealthy hearers, ‘““What good is your money to you? Would 
you wrap yourself in costly clothing? But a tunic of two cubits 
length would be enough for you, and the encircling of one cloak 
satisfies every need for garments.’’*° His auditors had apparently 
no intention of becoming ascetics. He follows up these state- 
ments by attacking the customs of the rich, urging them to sell 
their substance and give it to the poor, strengthening his argument 
with figures and paradoxes. “But if you had clothed the naked, 
if you had been a father to the orphans, if you had had compas- 
sion upon the cripple, would you now be grieved by reason of 
your money?’’*? His previous figure about the keen pain that 
they would feel at separation from their money contrasts strangely 
with this remark. 


It is evident, then, that Basil’s studies at Athens made him a 
regular product of his age and that he is an excellent instance of 
the fourth century education in its best form. He developed to 
the fullest extent that admiration for the classics of the golden 
age, and that shrewd insight into their merits and defects which 
he sets forth so ably in his address To the Youths. Even if he 
had not been noted for the diligence with which he worked at his 
studies, the wide knowledge of pagan classics which he displayed 
in his later works, and his appreciation of them, would be a fair 
evidence of how much time he gave to the efforts of the pagan 
authors. The success of his literary career indicates that his 
studies were both well directed and well rewarded. He went into 

19 52, B. Homilia in Divites. Nuvi δὲ TLQOOMEPUXE σοὶ τὰ χρήματα πλέον 
ἢ τὰ μέλη τοῦ σώματος, καὶ λυπεῖ σε αὐτῶν ὃ χωρισμὸς ὡς ἀκρωτηριασμὸς 
τῶν καιρίων. 

20 53, A. ᾿Αλλὰ τί χρήσϊ τῷ πλούτῳ; ᾿Εσϑῆτι πολυτιμήτῳ περιβαλεῖς 
σεαυτόν; Οὐχοῦν δύο μὲν σοὶ πηχῶν χιτώνίσχος ἀρχέσει, ἐνὸς δὲ ἱματίου 
περιβολὴ πᾶσαν τῶν ἐνδυμάτων ἐχπληρώσει τὴν χρείαν. 

2152, C. Εἰ γὰρ ἀμφίεσας γυμνὸν εἰ ἔδωχας πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σοῦ εἰ 


ἢ ϑύρα σοῦ ἀνέῳκτο παντὶ ξένῳ, εἰ ἐγένου πατὴρ ὀρφανῶν, εἰ παντὶ συνέ- 
πασχες ἀδυνάτῳ ὑπὲρ ποίων ἂν νῦν ἐλυπήϑης χρημάτων; 


26 


them very thoroughly, and he teems with proofs of his readings, 
the evidence growing stronger as the time of the writers grows 
earlier, till at the golden age he is fairly saturated with the legend, 
story and literature of Periclean Athens. By their very nature 
these influences were pagan to the core. 

The precise length of time that he spent in Athens is in some 
doubt. But he probably arrived there in 351 and left in 355 or 
356, to return to Caesarea. He had courses, therefore, during 
four or five years of apparently continuous residence. Such is at 
least a fair assumption, as we have no knowledge of journeys else- 
where during this period. This length of time would offer oppor- 
tunity for a great deal of connected study. 

After leaving Athens Basil was active for a time in Caesarea. 
He began as a professor of rhetoric and was successful enough 
to draw an invitation from the citizens of Neoczsarea to teach in 
their town. He was teaching during 357 as a regular rhetor, and 
laying some of the foundations for his great popularity with the 
people. It was shortly after this time that he finally severed his 
connections with the schools and decided upon an ecclesiastical 
life. 


CHAPTER III 
THESROER LES 


It is not an unfair inference to say that the quotations em- 
ployed and the use that is made of them give a good index to 
Basil’s poetical readings. The manner of citation is significant. 
The correctness, or lack of it, that is displayed, indicate about how 
closely Basil knew his authors. It will be seen that Basil regularly 
takes the indirect method, seldom endeavoring to reproduce exact 
speech. When he makes the attempt he is frequently wrong. 

Taking Basil’s poetical allusions and parallelisms in three 
general fields of dramatic, lyric and epic verse, it will become 
apparent that Basil’s references must give a fair index to his 
studies in each field. 


1. Dramatic poets. 


Basil names Aeschylus but once. In a letter to Martinianus 
he says: “Why name Simonides? I would rather mention Aeschy- 
lus or any other who has set forth a great calamity in words like 
his and uttered lamentations with a mighty voice.”? The remark 
would indicate a good appreciation of Aeschylus and the crashing 
style that had made him famous. In the address To the Youths, 
Basil tells of the quarrels among the pagan gods. Legend told of 
similar quarrels among human beings in remote times. Basil 
says, “Among them, brother, excites sedition against brother.’”” 
As he hints, every sort of misfortune rises from such intra-family 
dissensions. In Greek legend the classic instance of brothers 
quarreling was the case of Eteocles and Polyneices, whose feud 
became the subject of Aeschylus’ Seven against Thebes. The 
same subject was treated by other tragedians whose works have 
not survived. 

1Letter 74. Καίτοι τί λέγω Σιμωνίδην; δέον Αἰσχύλον εἰπεῖν ἢ δή τις 
ἕτερος παραπλησίως ἐκείνῳ συμφορᾶς μέγεϑος ἐναργῶς διαϑέμενος μεγα- 


λοφώνως ὠδύρατο. 
2176, Β. ᾿Αδελφὸς γὰρ δὴ παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις διαστασιάζει πρὸς ἀδελφόν. .. 


27 


28 


Basil does not name Aristophanes at all. The very significant 
remark by Gregory to the effect that the indecencies of the comic 
poets were banned from Basil’s early education is here perhaps 
supported by actual evidence. The only Aristophanic connection 
that appears in Basil is the use of some words of a grotesque 
nature, traceable to Aristophanes, who first used them in a bur- 
lesque sense. Nearly eight hundred years had elapsed between 
the two men, and the use of these scattered expressions shows 
but a slender thread of evidence, if any. Basil writes in his Liber 
de Spiritu Sancto, “Therefore, self-appointed scions and place 
hunters reject the government of the Holy Spirit.”* Such a place 
is an odd one for an Aristophanic expression. The word which 
Basil uses for place hunters also occurs in Aristophanes and seems 
to have had a comic origin.°® | 

The other case is almost equally vague. In the Hexaemeron 
he speaks of people who are beset by vagaries and are much dis- 
tracted, noting that their attention wanders, and that they dream 
of strange and impossible things, and of matters that were before 
their minds during the previous day, saying that, for instance, 
some who frequent the races fancy themselves horsemen, and 
“Not even in their sleep are they freed from their phantasies.’” 
The same idea is used in a more compact and neater way by 
Aristophanes in the Clouds. He speaks of “dreams of horses” 
and “even in sleeping, dreams of horsemanship.”” 


Basil’s reference to Euripides are not very wide, but they are 
more definite. There are but four, two being from the speech To 
the Youths, and two from the Letters. The first allusion in the 
speech is to the famous line in the Hippolytus, “My tongue is 
sworn indeed, but my heart’s unsworn.’’* Basil says in his ora- 
tion, “But with his tongue indeed he swore, though his mind was 
unsworn, as Euripides would say.”® It is interesting to note that 
the wording of the two statements, though similar, is not quite 


3 ΟἹ. Gregory of Nyssa, Life of St. Macrine, ch. 1. 

466, D. τοιγαροῦν αὐτοχειροτόνητοι καὶ σπουδαρχίδαι τῶν ᾿Εκκλησιῶν 
τὰς προστασίας διαλαγχάνουσι. 

5 Aristophanes, Acharnians, line 595. 
ὅστις; πολίτης χρηστός, οὐ σπουδαρχίδης, 

6 33, Β. Ka ὅλως τῆς μεϑημερινῆς ἀφροσύνης οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς καϑ’ ὕπνον 
φαντασίαις ἀφαντιστάνται. 

7 The Clouds, 1, 16, 1, 27. ὀνειροπολεῖ 8’ ἵππους... ὀνειροπολεῖ γὰρ 
καὶ καϑεύδων ἱππικήν. 

8 Hippolytus, 1, 612. ἡ γλῶσσ᾽ ὁμώμοχ᾽, ἣ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος. 

9178, A. ἀλλ᾽ ἡ γλῶττα μὲν ὁμώμοκεν, ἡ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος, κατ᾽ Εὐρι- 
πίδην ἐρεῖ. 


29 


the same, and that Basil by throwing it into indirect speech takes 
away the requirement of an absolutely correct quotation which 
direct discourse would have implied. 


Again in the same chapter he intimates that, in spite of the 
Christian precept to bear with oppression, one must defend one- 
self, citing a line from Euripides to justify the view. “Anger 
arms the hand against foes.”?° 

The wording is sufficiently different to justify a suspicion that 
Basil misquoted the verse in question. It is noticeable that he 
names no author for the play, which is attributed with some 
hesitancy to Euripides. 


In a letter Basil finds occasion to mention Euripides by name. 
“T count the wise man my friend, even if he dwell in a far distant 
land, even if I have never seen him with my own eyes; this is the 
opinion of the tragic poet Euripides.”** Here again Basil names 
the author of the view which he endorses. The passage that he 
refers to is from a lost play and is preserved in a fragmentary 
form. It reads, “But the noble man, even if he dwell in a far 
land and I have never seen him with my eyes, I count him my 
friend.’#2. The remaining reference is a loose one. In a letter 
to Martinianus, referring to the condition of the country, he says 
that “She is torn by daemons, by Maenads, as Pentheus.”** The 
best and only complete surviving work upon the fate of Pentheus 
is Euripides’ tragedy of the Bacchae, in which the entire play 
centers around the rites of Bacchanalian worship, and the death 
of Pentheus, who, like Orpheus, was torn to pieces by the Bac- 
chantes. 


2. Lyric poets. 


In his homilies upon the Hexaemeron he remarks upon the 
origin of dew, ascribing it to a moisture mingled with heat and 
developing from the moon. “A certain imperceptible moisture 
mixed with heat, which the moon emits when approaching the 


10 Rhesus, 1, 84. ἁπλοῦς ἐπ᾽ ἐχϑροῖς μῦϑος ὁπλίζειν χέρα. Basil’s version 
is: En’ ἐχϑροὺς ϑυμὸς ὁπλίζει χεῖρα. 
11 Letter 63. τὸν σοφὸν ἄνδρα κἂν ἑκὰς ναίῃ χϑονὸς, κἂν μήποτ᾽ αὑτὸν 
ὄσσοις προσίδω, χρίνω φίλον. Εὐριπίδου ἐστὶ τοῦ τραγικοῦ λόγος. 
12 Cf. Nauck’s Tragic Fragments, Euripides, No. 902. 
τὸν ἐσϑλὸν ἄνδρα κἂν ἑκὰς vain χϑονός, 
χἂν μήποτ᾽ ὅσσοις εἰσίδω, κρίνω φίλον. 
13 Letter 74. ὅτι Πενϑέως τρόπον Μαινάδες ὄντων τινὲς δαίμονες αὐτὴν 
διεσπάσαντο. 


30 


full, and which penetrates everywhere.”** The same subject 
occurs in Alcman, who figuratively describes the dew as the 
daughter of Zeus and Selene. “Such dew, the daughter of Zeus 
and Selene, gives nourishment.”?° 


The remark about Archilochus is definite. ‘Shall we emulate 
the cunning and adroitness of the fox of Archilochus?’?* In 
iambic verses Archilochus wrote a fable about the fox and the 
eagle, only fragments of which have come down to us, and the 
theme of the original story, as well as any connected idea of the 
case, is entirely lost.*7 


In the second homily upon the Hexaemeron, Basil refers to 
Hesperus, the evening star, as the fairest of stars. It may be that 
he did not have Bion’s idea in mind, but the same thought is 
beautifully put in Bion’s Hymn to the Evening Star. Basil writes, 
“The Evening Star, most beautiful of the stars.”?* Bion writes, 
“Dear Evening Star, sacred gem of the dark blue Night, as much 
dimmer than the moon as brighter than the other stars.’’* It is 
certain that the Evening Star was not a new theme in Basil’s time. 


He mentions Simonides in terms that imply a keen apprecia- 
tion. “Assuredly we want some Simonides or like poet to bewail 
our misfortunes from personal experience.’’?° Simonides proba- 
bly occurred to Basil as a poet particularly fitted to write of 
mournful affairs, as his elegies were epitaphs of Greeks killed in 
the Persian wars. In the case of Solon the usage is clear. “No 
end is manifested for men’s wealth, according to Solon, son of 


1461, Α. διότι ὑγρότητα τινα ϑερμότητι κεκραμένην ἐπὶ τὸ Bato 
φϑάνουσαν λεληϑότως ἐνίησι. 
15 Aleman, Anthologia Lyrica, 62 (47). ola Διὸς ϑυγάτηρ ἔρσα τρέφει 
χαὶ Σελάνας δίας. 
16 183, Ὁ. καὶ τῆς ᾿Αρχιλόχου ἀλώπεκος τὸ χερδαλέον τε καὶ ποικίλον 
ζηλώσομεν; 
17 Cf. Archilochus, Anthologia Lyrica, fr. 81 (67). αἷνος τις ἀνθρώπων 
ὅδε, ὡς ἄρ᾽ ἀλώπηξ xaletds Evvwvinv ἔμειξαν. 
The fox is mentioned in another framgent 96 (68). 
τῷ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἀλώπηξ κερδαλῆ συνήντετο πῦκνον ἔχουσα νόον. 
The fox of Archilochus is also mentioned in Plato’s Republic, II., 365. 
τὴν δὲ τοῦ σοφωτάτου ᾿Αρχιλόχου ἀλώπεκα ἑλκτέον 
ἐξόπισϑεν χερδαλέαν καὶ ποικίλην. 
1820, A. xai Ἕσπερος ἀστέρων κάλλιστος. 
19 Cf. Bucolici Greci. Bion., Hymn to the Evening Star. 
“Eonege κυανέας ἱερὸν φίλη Νυχτὸς ἄγαλμα, 
τόσσον ἀφαυρότερος μήνας, ὅσον ἔξοχος ἄστρων. 
20 Letter 74. ἢ ὅτι Σιμωνίδου ὄντως, ἤ τινος τοιούτου μελοποιοῦ ἐδεόμεϑα, 
ἐναργῶς εἰδότος ἐπιστενάζειν τοῖς πάϑεσι. 


31 


Exestides.”*! The exact idea is not reproduced in any surviving 
fragment of Solon’s verse, but there is an approach to it in this: 
“T do wish, indeed, to have wealth, but I do not wish to get it 
unjustly.”’* The other verses must have been lost. This is an in- 
stance of a very loosely handled quotation. The following verse 
may be either Solon’s or Theognis’. If Plutarch is right it belongs 
to Solon, for Plutarch states this explicitly and quotes the line.” 
But the same verse without the slightest alteration occurs in the 
fragments of both authors. Basil quotes from Solon: “It seems 
to me that Solon was speaking to the rich when he said, ‘We, for 
our part, will not exchange our virtue for money, for virtue 
always remains the same, but the wealth of men changes 
fands,’*"** 


The verse in Theognis is the same.*° Basil quoted this correctly, 
which is not a common thing with him. The references to Theog- 
nis all occur in the speech To the Youths. “And like these are 
the verses of Theognis, in which he says that God, whatever he 
means by God, depresses the scales for men, sometimes one way, 
sometimes another, and makes some men affluent and makes 
others have nothing.’*®° The verses of Theognis are, “For Zeus 
forces the scales down for one one way, and for another another 
way, making some rich and others have nothing.’’*” Basil gets 
in the idea skillfully without losing any of the force and without 
quoting directly. Again, “Theognis, the teacher, must also be 
followed, he who said, ‘I do not love to be wealthy, nor do I desire 
it. May it be granted to me to live with a little, suffering no 


21783, Β. κατὰ tov ᾿Εξηκετίδου Σόλωνα, ὃς φησί, πλούτου δ᾽ οὐδὲν 
τέρμα πεφασμένον ἀνδράσι κεῖται. 

22 Solon, Anthologica Lyrica, fr. 12 (4). χρήματα δ᾽ ἱμείρω μὲν ἔχειν, 
ἀδίκως δὲ πεπᾶσϑαι οὐκ ἐϑέλω. 

23 Cf. Plutarch, Life of Solon, III. 

24177 A. ὅϑεν δὴ καὶ Σόλων μοὶ δοκεῖ πρὸς τοὺς εὐπόρους εἰπεῖν τό. 
᾿Αλλ’ ἡμεῖς αὐτοῖς οὐ διαμειψόμεϑα τῆς ἀρετῆς τὸν πλοῦτον. ἐπεὶ τὸ μὲν 
ἔμπεδον αἰεὶ, χρήματα δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλος ἔχει. 

25 Cf. Solon, Anthologia Lyrica, fr. 14 (6). Cf. also Theognis, Antholo- 
gia Lyrica, 316, 317, 318. 

"ALN ἡμεῖς τούτοις od διαμειψόμεϑα τῆς ἀρετῆς TOV πλοῦτον, ἐπεὶ TO μὲν 
ἔμπεδον αἰεὶ χρήματα δ᾽ ἀνθρώπων ἄλλοτε ἄλλως ἔχει. 

26177, Ὁ. Παραπλήσια δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὰ Θεόγνιδος, ἐν οἷς φησὶ τὸν ϑεὸν, 
ὅντινα δὴ καὶ φησὶ, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ τάλαντον ἐπιρρέπειν ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, 
ἄλλοτε μὲν πλουτεῖν, ἄλλοτε δὲ μηδὲν ἔχειν. 

27 Theognis, Anthologia Lyrica, 1, 157, 158. Ζεὺς γὰρ τοὶ τὸ τάλαντον 
ἐπιρρέπει, ἄλλοτε ἄλλως, ἄλλοτε μὲν πλουτεῖν, ἄλλοτε μηδὲν ἔχειν, 


32 


evil.’ 28. The verse as quoted is absolutely correct. Later in the 
same chapter he refers to an instance that Theognis develops at 
length: “And just as they say, the polypus changes its color 
according to the ground upon which it lies, so this man will 
change his mind according to the views of those who are with 
him.’’?° 

In his seventh commentary upon the Hexaemeron Basil again 
remarks the polypus, saying, “I will not pass by in silence the 
cunning and trickery of the squid, which takes the color of the 
rock to which it attaches itself.’”*° Theognis develops the idea 
vigorously. “Keep from the rage of the much wreathing polypus 
which, once twined upon the rock, seems to appear like the rock 
itself. Now, indeed, it occupies itself with this rock; formerly 
it was of another color, and the craftiness in its movelessness 
becomes more evident.’’*? It is worthy of note that a contempo- 
rary of Basil, the emperor Julian, makes use of the same figure: 
“You do not approve the word of Theognis, nor mimic the Poly- 
pus which suits its color to the rocks.’’*? It was perhaps a stock 
figure for the rhetorical schools. 


3. Epic poets. 

In the opening chapter of his address To the Youths, Basil 
begins, “Accordingly, 1f you receive my words with alert intelli- 
gence you will have a place beside those who are praised by 
Hesiod.” Then he gives a general paraphrase of the ideas ex- 
pressed in Hesiod’s Works and Days, saying, “He is the best 
man who perceives by himself the matters in which he is lacking; 
he also is good who can be persuaded by proof from other people ; 
but the one who is affected by neither is useless to everybody.”’** 


28 183, B. τῷ δὲ Θεόγνιδι πρὸς ταῦτα διδασκάλῳ χρηστέον λέγοντι. Οὐκ 
ἔραμαι πλουτεῖν, OUT’ εὔχομαι, ἀλλά μοι εἴη. Ζὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀλίγων, μηδὲν 
ἔχοντι καχόν. 

29 τ84, B. καὶ ὥσπερ φασὶ τὸν πολύποδα τὴν χρόαν πρὸς τὴν ὑποχειμένην 
γνώμας μεταβαλεῖτοι. 

8065, C. οὐκ ἂν παρέλϑοιμν τὸ τοῦ πολύποδος δολερὸν καὶ ἐπίκλοπον, ὃς 
ὁποίᾳ ποτ᾽ ἂν ἑκάστοτε πέτρᾳ περιπλακῇ τὴν ἐκείνης ὑπέρχεται χρόαν. 

81 Theognis, Anthologia Lyrica, 1, 215, ff. 

πουλύπου ὀργὴν ἴσχε πολυπλόκου, ὃς ποτὶ πέτρῃ, τῇ προσομιλήσῃ, τοῖος 
ἰδεῖν ἐφάνη. νῦν μὲν τῇ δ᾽ ἔφεπευ τότε δ᾽ ἀλλοῖος χρόα γίνευ, χρέσσων τοὶ 
σοφίη γίνεται ἀτροπίης. 

82 Julian, Misopogon, 349, D. οὐδ ἐπαινέτης εἶ τοῦ Θεόγνιδος, οὐδὲ μιμῇ 
τὸν ἀφομοιούμενον ταῖς πέτραις πολύπουν. 

838 174, A. Εἰ μὲν οὖν προϑύμως δέχοισϑε τὰ λεγόμενα τῆς δευτέρας τῶν 
ἐπαυνουμένων ἕπεσϑε παρ᾽ Ἡσιόδῳ τάξεως... ~AQuotov μὲν εἶναι τὸν παρ᾽ 
ἑαυτοῦ τὰ δέοντα ξυνορῶντα. ἐσϑλὸν δὲ κακεῖνον τὸν τοῖς παρ᾽ ἑτέρων 
ὑποδεχϑεῖσιν ἑπόμενον. τὸν δὲ πρὸς οὐδέτεραν ἐπιτήδειον ἀχρεῖον εἶναι πρὸς 
ἅπαντα. 


38 


The section which he has paraphrased is: “That man is entirely 
best who considers all things himself and judges what will be 
better at a later time and at the end, and that man is good who 
listens to a good counsellor, but he who does not think for him- 
self and does not remember what another warns him is of no 
worth.’’*4 


Basil then uses another instance from the same author: “For 
the putting of a little to a little, as the poet says, may rightly be 
thought as spoken not more for the increase of wealth than for 
the increase of wisdom.’’*® 


Hesiod is the poet mentioned: “If you add only a little to a 
little, and do this often, soon will that little become great.’’%® 
Urging thrift upon the youth has always been a oe device 
of rhetoricians. 


In an effort to exhort the youth to virtue, Basil refers to 
another Hesiodic verse: ‘‘What else can we suppose Hesiod had 
in mind making those verses that are sung by everyone, if not to 
exhort the youthful to virtue? That at first the way is difficult 
and rough and full of toilsome labor and pain and uphill, the 
road that leads to virtue, and therefore on account of its steepness 
it is not for everyone to start, nor starting, to reach the summit 
readily. But, on reaching the top, man sees it as smooth and 
beautiful, as easy and with good footing, and as more pleasant 
than the other, the road that leads to vice.’’*’ The same idea is 
given in a more concise form by Hesiod: “Long and precipitous 
is the way to virtue, and rough at first. But when one has reached 
the summit, he can see it is easy, after having been difficult.’”’** 


34 Hesiod, Works and Days, 1, 291, ff. οὗτος μὲν πανάριστος, ὃς αὐτὸς 
πάντα νοήσῃ φρασσάμενος, τὰ x’ ἔπειτα καὶ ἐς τέλος ἧσιν ἀμείνω. ἐσϑλὸς δ᾽ 
αὖ κακεῖνος ὃς εὖ εἰπόντι πίϑηται. ὃς δέ κε μήτ᾽ αὐτὸς νοέῃ μήτ᾽ ἄλλου 
ἀκούων, ἐν ϑυμῷ βάλληται ὃδ᾽ αὖτ᾽ ἀχρήιος ἀνήρ. 

35184 Β. τὸ γὰρ καὶ σμικρὸν ἐπὶ σμικρῷ κατατίϑεσϑαι οὐ μᾶλλον εἰς 
ἀργυρίου προσϑήκην ἢ καὶ εἰς ἡντιναοῦν ἐπιτήμην ὀρϑῶς ἡγεῖσϑαι ἔχειν τῷ 
ποιητῇ προσήκεν. 

36 Works and Days, τ 50} 8.) 28 γάρ κεν καὶ σμικρὸν ἐπὶ σμικρῷ 
χαταϑεῖο καὶ ϑαμὰ tovt’ ἔρδοις, τάχα κεν μέγα καὶ τὸ γένοιτο. 

37 176, A. Ἤ ti ποτε ἄλλο διανοηϑέντα τὸν Ἡσίοδον ὑπολάβωμεν ταυτὶ 
ποιῆσαι τὰ ἔπη ἃ πάντες ἄδουσιν ἢ ἢ οὐχὶ προτρέποντα τοὺς νέους ἐπ’ ἀρετήν; 

“Οτὶ τραχεῖα μὲν πρῶτον καὶ δύσβατος, καὶ ἰδρῶτος συχνοῦ καὶ πόνου πλήρης, 
ἣ πρὸς ἀρετὴν φέρουσα, καὶ ἀπάντης ὁδός. Διόπερ οὐ παντὸς οὔτε προβῆναι 
αὐτῇ διὰ τὸ ὄρϑιον, οὔτε νομένῳ ὁρᾷν ὑ ὑπάρχει, ὡς μὲν λεία τε καὶ καλὴ ὡς δὲ 
dadia τε καὶ εὔπορος, καὶ τῆς ἑτέρας ἡδίων τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν κακίαν ἀγούσης. 

38 Hesiod, Works and Days, I, 290 ff. paxeds δὲ καὶ ὄρϑιος οἶμος ἐς 
αὐτὴν καὶ τρηχὺς τὸ πρῶτον. ἐπὴν δ᾽ εἰς ἄκρον ἵκηται ῥηιδίη δὴ ἔπειτα πέλει, 
χαλεπή περ ἐοῦσα. 


34 


This same passage in Hesiod is quoted in Xenophon’s Memora- 
bilia, and as will be seen later, there are good grounds for think- 
ing that the whole section in Xenophon has been taken over by 
Basil. 

Basil’s other reference to Hesiod occurs in the Hexaemeron: 
“The eye that never sleeps sees 411. 55. The thought is used by 
Hesiod thus: “The eye of God, seeing all things and understand- 
ing all things.’’*° 

The references to Homer are more scattered than the other 
poetic instances. This might indicate that having them better in 
hand at all times, he referred to them the more readily. Cor- 
respondingly it might be inferred that when his references are 
grouped, in one discourse or passage, that they were more spe- 
cially prepared for the occasion, or were called to mind by a 
recent reading, or some similar occurrence. 


The case of the Margites is in the speech To the Youths. 
After saying that Sardanapalus might take a prize for sheer use- 
lessness, he goes on to add, “Or that Margites, if you prefer, 
whom Homer said neither plowed nor dug the earth, nor per- 
formed any other activity in life which would yield a produce, if 
indeed these things are in Homer.’’*' Basil’s last remark goes to 
show that he himself had some doubt of the authenticity of the 
poem which has since been judged not an Homeric production. 
Aristotle, in the Poetics, seems to think it certainly Homeric.** 
In as much as it is all lost and but a few fragments survive, it is 
hard to decide in regard to Basil’s use or knowledge of it. The 
verse that Basil refers to is preserved in the Nichomachean Ethics: 
“The gods taught him neither to plough nor to dig, nor any other 
wisdom.’’* 


The story of Tithonus occurs in the Homeric Hymns. Eos 
loved Tithonus and asked from Zeus the gift of immortality for 
him, but she forgot to ask that of perpetual youth. Later legend 
assigned different fates to him, but all considered him an ex- 
ample of extreme age. Basil says: “If anyone should offer me 


89 68, B. πάντα oxomevder ὁ ἀκοίμητος ᾿Οφϑαλμός. 

40 Hesiod, Works and Days, 1, 267. πάντα ἰδὼν Διὸς ᾿Οφϑαλμὸς καὶ 
πάντα νοήσας. 

41181, C. Ὁ. ἢ καὶ 6 Μαργίτης, εἰ βούλει, ὅν οὔτ᾽ ἀροτῆρα, οὔτε 
σκχαπτῆρα, οὔτε ἄλλο τι τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐπιτηδείων εἶναι “Ounoos ἔφησεν, 
εἰ δὴ ‘Ouneov ταῦτα. 

42 Cf. Aristotle, Poetics, 1448, b. 30. 

48 Aristotle, Ethics, VI., 7. tov δ᾽ οὔτ᾽ Ge’ σκαπῆρα ϑεοὶ ϑέσαν οὔτ᾽ 
ἀροτῆρα οὔτ᾽ ἄλλως τι σοφόν. 


35 


the age of Tithonus or of Arganthonius.’** The story of 
Arganthonius will be seen later in Herodotus, and the tale about 
Tithonus is explained at considerable length in the Homeric Hymn 
to Aphrodite: “Thus also Eos of the golden throne carried away 
Tithonus, who was of your race and resembled the deathless gods. 
And she went up to the dark clouded son of Cronos, demanding 
that he should become deathless and live forever. Zeus nodded 
his head and granted her desire . . .”*° 


Of the references to the Iliad, four occur in the correspond- 
ence, divided among four letters, and two in the Hexaemeron. 
Fach of the four letters in question is to a different man, and in 
the Hexaemeron each reference represents a different homily. It 
is noteworthy, too, that in the speech To the Youths, in which 
Basil is obviously endeavoring to be very literary, there is no 
reference to the Iliad. The fifteen references to the Odyssey are 
well scattered. Four are in the speech To the Youths, one in a 
commentary upon Isaias, the remaining ten are in letters, these 
letters being addressed to five men. A letter to Aburgius contains 
four references, one to Eustathius two, and one each appears in 
letters to Gregory and Martinanus, while the last two are in a let- 
ter to Antipater. 


In the second homily upon the Hexaemeron, Basil says: “We 
could likewise say about the heavens that they were as yet imper- 
fect and had not received their natural ornaments, since they were 
not shining with the brilliancy of the moon and the sun, and were 
not wreathed with the choirs of the stars.’’** In describing 
Hephaistus’ work upon the shield of Achilles, Homer says: “On 
it he wrought the earth, and the heaven and the sea, and the tire- 
less sun, and the moon in full, and upon it also he wrought all of 
the constellations with which the heavens are wreathed, the 
Pleiades, the Hyades, and the strength of Orion.’’47 The simi- 


: 44184, C. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ κἂν τὸ Τιϑωνοῦ τις γῆρας, κἂν τὸ ᾿Αργανϑωνίου 
REVS 3 Sats 

45 Homeric Hymns, V., To Aphrodite, 1, 218, ff. “Qc & αὖ Τιϑωνὸν 
χρυσόϑρονος ἥρπασεν ᾿Ηώς, ὑμετέρης γενεῆς, ἐπιείκελον ἀϑανάτοισι. βῆ δ᾽ 
ἵμεν αἰτήσουσα κελαινεφέα Κρονίωνα, ἀϑάνατον τ᾽ εἶναι καὶ ζώειν ἤματα 
πάντα. τῇ δε Ζεὺς ἐπένευσε καὶ ἐκρήηνεν ἐέλδωρ. 

4612, Β. Τὰ αὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ περὶ οὐρανοῦ εἴποιμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἐξείργαστο 
οὔπω οὐδὲ αὐτὸς, οὐδὲ τὸν οἰκεῖον ἀπελήφει κόσμον, ἅτε μήπω σελήνῃ μήτη 
ἡλίῳ περιλαμπόμενος, μηδὲ τοῖς χοροῖς τῶν ἄστρων καταστεμμένος. 

47 Tliad, XVIII, 483, ff. Ἔν μὲν γαῖαν ἔτευξ᾽, ἐν δ᾽ οὐρανόν, ἐν δὲ 
ϑάλασσαν, ἡέλιον τ᾽ ἀκάμαντα σελήνην te πλήϑουσαν, ἐν δὲ τὰ τείρεα 
πάντα, τά τ’ οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται, Πληϊάδας ὃ’ Ὑάδας τε τό τε σϑένος 
᾽Ωρίωνος. 


36 


larity, as in the case of Basil’s usual poetical usage, is not closely 
expressed, but the thought develops from the quotation along easy 
lines. 

Writing to Trajan, Basil says that one of his friends has ex- 
perienced great misfortunes and has asked him “to make clear 
to you how an Iliad of woes has fallen upon his head.”’** 

In a letter to the clergy of Samosata, Basil draws out a well 
worded bit of advice upon the subject of strife and internal dis- 
sensions among the clergy: “These indeed are small at first and 
easy to cure, but as time goes on they tower up in contention, and 
they are likely to end in misfortune such as cannot be alleviated.”*° 
The figure of the growth and elevation of Strife is personified 
effectively by Homer: “Strife raises her head, small indeed at 
first, but then afterward she rears her head to the heavens and 
stalks over the earth.’*° Later, in a letter to Eusebius, Basil brings 
out another mark of Homeric recollection: “For I am led to say, 
as Diomede said, ‘Would that you had not supplicated him, since 
as they say, he is a proud man.’’’*? The words used are Homeric, 
although taken from different lines. The whole quotation occurs 
in the ninth book of the Iliad between the lines 698 and 700. The 
expression “Would that you had not supplicated him” is in line 
698, and the rest of the remark, “for he is a proud man,” is found 
in a slightly different order in line 700. The whole verse reads: 
“Would that you had not supplicated the illustrious son of Peleus, 
giving him countless gifts, for he was a proud man even before 
ἐπι: Ὁ This is a case of a quotation practically correct. The 
words in the second half of the remark are not quite as in our 
text, but the difference is not more than could be accounted for 
easily by different readings in the manuscripts that Basil used and 
the ones that we have. 

The flight of cranes was a favorite subject among the older 
Greek writers, and Homer uses it effectively. Basil says: “It is 
not possible for me, as in the case of the cranes, to escape from 

48Tetter 148. ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ φανερὰν yevéotar σοὶ τὴν περιστᾶσαν 
αὐτῷ τῶν κακῶν ᾿Ιλιάδα. 

491 εΐεσ 219. af παρὰ μὲν τὴν πρώτην μικραί elo. καὶ εὐθεράπευτοι, 
προϊόντος δὲ τοῦ χρόνοι: ὑπὸ φιλονεικίας αὐξανόμεναι εἰς ἀνίατον παντελῶς 
ἐχπίπτειν πεφύχασι. 

50 Tliad, IV., 442, ff. 7 τ᾽’ ὀλίγη μὲν πρῶτα κορύσσεται, αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα 
οὐρανῷ ἐστήριξε κάρη καὶ ἐπὶ χϑονὶ βαίνει. 


51 Letter 239. ᾿Εμοὶ μὲν γὰρ τὸ τοῦ Διομήδους sie λέγειν. Μὴ 
ὄφελες λίσσεσϑαι, διότι φησίν, ἀγήνωρ ἐστὶν ὁ ἀνήρ. 


52 Tliad, IX., 608, ff. μὴ ὄφελες λίσσεσϑαι ἀπό ον Πηλεΐωνα μυρία 
δῶρα διδούς. 6 δ᾽ ἀγήνωρ ἐστὶ καὶ ἄλλως. 


37 
the discomforts of winter.’’’* In the opening lines of the third 
book of the Iliad, Homer writes that the cries of the Trojans 
resembled “‘the clangor of the cranes, fleeing across the heavens 
from winter and limitless rains, winging their way with clamor to 
the streams of the Ocean.’’** 

The last reference leading up to the Iliad is the use of a rather 
peculiar Homeric word. In a letter to Libanius the saint says, in 
referring to some planks, that “They are, according to Homer, 
‘long-shadowing.’’’*? The word for “long-shadowing” is an odd 
word and one peculiarly Homeric, the same expression being used 
by Homer upon fifteen different occasions.*® 


In the speech To the Youths the first reference to the Odyssey 
occurs in the second section, in which Basil states that when they 
describe great and good men the poets are to be read, “But when 
they turn to evil men, we must needs flee such imitation, closing 
our ears, no less than, as they say, Odysseus did against the songs 
of the Sirens.’”** The resource employed by Odysseus was to 
stop up the ears of his companions with melted wax. Odysseus, 
in relating his adventures to Alcinous, says: “Then I anointed 
with this (the melted wax) in succession the ears of all my com- 
panions.’** In chapter four Basil cites the adventures of Odys- 
seus among the Pheacians and makes them illustrate several 
points. He explains that the virtue and reputation of the hero 
made him respected, even though he appeared shipwrecked, naked 
and alone, and that finally “he was held in such esteem by the 
Pheacians that, giving up the ease in which they lived, they all 
admired and copied after him.’°® Homer tells the story at length. 
The adventures of Odysseus were known wherever Greeks were 
known, so that this story could not fail to make an impression.* 

53 Letter 193. Ἡμῖν οὐδ᾽ ὅσον ταῖς γεράνοις ὑπάρχει τὰ δυσχερῆ τοῦ 
χειμῶνος διαφυγεῖν. 

54 Tliad, IIL., 3, 4, 5. ἠΐτε περ χλαγγῇ γεράνων πέλει οὐρανόϑι πρό, αἵ 
τ᾽ ἐπεὶ οὖν χειμῶνα φύγον καὶ ἀϑέσφατον ὄμβρον, κλαγγῇ ταί γε πέτονται Ex’ 
᾿Ωχεανοῖο ῥοάων. 

55 Letter 348. καὶ κατὰ τὸν σὸν “Ὅμηρον, δολιχοσχίους. 

56 Cf. Iliad, III, 346, and elsewhere. 

πρόσϑε δ᾽ ᾿Αλέξανδρος προΐει δολιχοσκίον ἔγχος. 

57175, D. ὅταν δὲ ἐπὶ μοχϑηροὺς ἄνδρας ἔλθωσι, τὴν μίμησιν ταύτην δεῖ 
φεύγειν, ἐπιφρασσομένους τὰ ὦτα, ody ἧττον ἢ τὸν ᾽Οδυσσέα φασὶν ἐκεῖνοι 
τὰ τῶν Σειρήνων μέλη. 

58Odyssey, XII., 177. ἐξείης δ᾽ ἑτάροισιν ἐπ᾽ οὔατα πᾶσιν ἄλειψα. 

69177 (, ἔπειτα μέντοι καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς Φαίαξι τοσούτου ἄξιον 
νομισϑῆναι, ὥστε, ἀφέντας τὴν τουφὴν ἢ συνέξων, ἐκεῖνον ἀποβλέπειν καὶ 


ζηλοῦν ἅπαντας. 
60 Cf. Odyssey, Books VI. and VII. 


38 


Further, in the same chapter Basil again refers to the activities of 
the hero, using a verse partly quoted from the Odyssey: “That 
man alone takes his philosophy literally who acts upon his belief 
with his fellows, ‘such a one breathes; the rest flit about as 
shadows.’ ’’*? The line in the Odyssey is, “To him even in death 
dark Persephone granted reason with which to understand while 
the rest flit about like shadows.”® It has reference to the Theban 
seer Tiresias. The latter part of Basil’s statement reproduces part 
of the Homeric verse. This is another case of Basil’s dexterous 
use of indirect speech, giving him ample opportunity to begin 
and end as he wishes and to quote as his own need justifies. His 
final reference in the speech To the Youths is in the eighth chapter, 
in which he refers to the well known story of Proteus. Telling 
the youths that a wise man must never swerve from what he con- 
siders the right, Basil goes on to say that if he does begin such 
practice and veers about according to expediency, then “shall we 
think him any different from that famous Egyptian sophist who 
became a plant, or a beast, or fire, or water, or all such things ?’’® 
The case of Proteus is vividly related in the Odyssey: “But at 
first he turned into a lion, then a serpent, and a leopard, then a 
huge wild boar. Then he turned into flowing waters, and into a 
tree, high and leafy . . 5: 


The story of Proteus was well known in Greek legend, and 
the idea reappears in many forms. According to the story, Proteus 
would change his identity, as described, to escape the necessity 
of answering questions asked of him. Somewhat similar in the 
idea of changing form was the tale of Achelous and his struggle 
with Heracles. 

In the commentary upon Isaias a single reference to the ad- 
ventures of Odysseus is brought out in a remark about the Sirens: 
“Other evidence has given it out that the Sirens were women 
singing sweet songs.”®> One reference to Odysseus and the 

61178 C. ὥς ὃ ye τὴν ἄχοι ρημάτων παρὰ tots ἄλλοις φιλοσοφίαν ἔργῳ 
βεβαιῶν. οἷος πένυται. τοὶ δὲ σκιαὶ αἴσσουσι. 

62 Odyssey, X., 404. τῷ καὶ τεϑνηῶτι νόον πόρε Περσεφόνεια οἴῳ 
πεπνῦσϑαι. τοὶ δὲ σκιαὶ αἴσσουσιν. 

63184, A. Ἤ τὸν μὴ οὕτως ἔχοντα τὶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου σοφιστοῦ φήσομεν 
ἀπολείπειν ὃς φυτὸν ἐγίγνετο καὶ ϑηρίον ὁπότε βούλοιτο, καὶ πῦρ καὶ ὕδωρ 
καὶ πάντα χρήματα; 

64 Odyssey, IV., 455, ff. "AAW A τοι πρώτιστα λέων γένετ᾽ ἠϊγένειος 
αὐτὰρ ἔπειτα δράκων xal πάρδαλις ἠδὲ μέγας σῦς yiveto δ᾽ ὑγρὸν ὕδωρ καὶ 
δένδρεον ὑψιπέτηλον. 

65 688, D. Σειρῆνας ὁ μὲν ἔξωϑεν λόγος παραδέδωκε γυναῖκάς τινας 
μελωδούσας. 


39 


Sirens has already been noted. The story of the Sirens was too 
well known to be more than a commonplace. Homer’s remarks 
about their singing are brief: “The Sirens beguile him (the trav- 
eler) with their sweet sounding song.’’® 


In his correspondence Basil’s allusions to the Odyssey are 
easily divided. One occurs in a letter to Martinianus, and it is 
noticeable that many other literary allusions occur there also. 
Martinianus was evidently no ordinary correspondent: ‘“Where- 
fore, I desire to hear you not so much for one year, but through- 
out my whole life, as Alcinous did Odysseus.’’** The case of 
Alcinous was a fairly strong instance, too, for Alcinous offered 
to sit up all night to listen to Odysseus telling about his adven- 
tures: “Indeed, I could stay here till bright daylight, so you should 
tell in the hall about your woes.’’®* This was a fair offer and 
probably occurred to Basil as a well recorded instance of an 
unusually complimentary proposal. 


Another case is in a letter to his brother Gregory, in which he 
says, describing his retreat in Pontus, that it is comparable “to 
Calypso’s isle, which Homer marvels at most of all for its 
beauty.’*®® The wonders of Calypso’s island are mentioned in 
different places, but probably nowhere more effectively than in 
these lines: “There even an immortal, coming in, might wonder 
and, gazing around, delight his heart.’’’° 


Two references easily connected with the story of Odysseus 
are found in Basil’s first letter: “I passed by the city on the 
Hellespont, as Odysseus did the songs of the Sirens.”’* Odysseus’ 
escape from the Sirens is described in some thirty-five verses in 
the Odyssey, which give the details that explain it.” 


Further in the same letter, after describing his efforts to meet 
Eustathius and hear his philosophical lectures, Basil says: “Do not 
these adventures very nearly surpass the fables of the poets con- 


66 Odyssey, XII., 44. ἀλλά te Σειρῆνες λιγυρῇ ϑέλγουσιν ἀοιδῇ. 

67 Letter 74. Hote οὐκ εἰς ἐνιαυτὸν μόνον ὡς ὁ ᾿Αλκίνοος tod ᾽Οδυσσέως, 
ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πάντα μου τὸν βίον εὐξαίμην ἄν σου ἀκούειν. 

68 Odyssey, XI., 375, 376. καί κεν ἐς ἠῶ δῖαν ἀνασχοίμην ὅτε μοὶ σὺ 
τλαίης ἐν μεγάρῳ τὰ σὰ κήδεα μυϑήσασϑαι. 

69 Letter 14. καὶ τὴν Καλυψοῦς νῆσον ἣν δὴ πασῶν πλέον Ὅμηρος εἰς 
κάλλος ϑαυμάσας φαίνεται. 

70 Odyssey, V., 73, 74, ἔνϑα x’ ἔπειτα καὶ ἀϑάνατός περ ἐπελϑὼν ϑηήσαιτο 
ἰδὼν καὶ τερφϑείη φρεσὶν ἧσιν. 

71 Letter 1. παρέδραμον δὲ τὴν ἐφ’ Ἑλλησπόντῳ πόλιν ὡς οὐδεὶς 
᾽Οδυσσεὺς Σειρήνων μέλη. 

72 Cf. Odyssey, XII., 165-200. 


40 


cerning Tantalus?’’?? Odysseus, describing his adventures, speaks 
of Tantalus: “And I saw Tantalus in violent torment, standing 
in a pool, the water reached up almost to his chin, and he appeared 
thirsty but could not drink, for whenever the old man stooped 
forward, being eager to take a drink, the water so often would 
recede and disappear.”’* Many other poets made the sufferings 
of Tantalus a subject for their writings. 

In a letter to Antipater, Basil remarks: “In future I shall 
think nothing quite as good as cabbage, not even the lotus of 
Homer, nor the ambrosia, whatever that may have been.”7* The 
effects of the lotus upon those members of Odysseus’ crew who 
ate it were described as being destructive to memory: “And who- 
ever ate of the fruit of the lotus, which was sweet as honey, no 
longer wished to carry away the word or to return.”’* The 
ambrosia that is mentioned by Basil in the same sentence is de- 
scribed by Homer as the food of the gods: “Speaking thus, the 
goddess set for him a table laden with ambrosia.’"’ After re- 
marking a proverb that cabbage at repeated meals might not be 
healthy, Basil says: “Now, however, I am forced to change my 
mind and laugh at the proverb when I see cabbage such a ‘good 
nursing mother of men.’’’** The expression “good nursing mother 
of men” is an imitation of a phrase in the Odyssey in which 
Ithaca, the home of Odysseus, is referred to as “rugged, but a 
good nurse of hardy men.’’”® 

The letter to Aburgius contains four references, an unusually 
large number as most of Basil’s references go, for even when writ- 
ing to a sophist like Libanius, Basil is conservative in the number 
of literary allusions that he employs. 

Referring to the final shipwreck which left Odysseus upon the 
coast of the Pheacians, Basil says: “He had great wealth, and 


73 Letter I. ταῦτα οὐχὶ μικροῦ δεῖν, καὶ τοὺς τῶν ποιητῶν ἐπὶ Ταντάλῳ 
μύϑους ὑπερβάλετο; 

Τά Odyssey, XI., 583, ff. καὶ μὴν Τάνταλον ἐσεῖδον χαλεπ᾽ ἄλγέ, ἔχοντα 
ἐαταότ᾽ ἐν λίμνῃ. ἣ δὲ προσέπλαζη γενείῳ. στεῦτο δὲ διψάων, πιέειν δ᾽ οὐκ 
εἶχεν ἑλέσϑαι. ὁσσάκι γὰρ κύφεϊ ὁ γέρων πιέειν μενεαίνων, τοσσάχ᾽ ὕδωρ 
ἀπολέσκετ᾽ ἀναβροχέν. 

151 ο(ίεγ 186. καὶ οὐδὲν εἶναι τοῦ λουτοῦ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν “ἡγήσομαι, οὐχ Ab 
τὸν ‘Opnowmov λωτὸν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀμβροσίαν ἐκείνην ἥτις ποτ᾽ ἄρα’ ἦ 

76 Odyssey, IX., 93. τῶν δ᾽ ὃς τις λωτοῖο φάγοι μελιηδέα καρπὸν, οὐκέτ᾽ ; 
ἀπαγγεῖλαι πάλιν ἤϑελεν οὐδὲ νέεσϑαι. 

τ Odyssey, V., 93. ὃς ἄρα φωνήσασα θεὰ παρέϑηκχε τράπεζαν ἀμβροσίης 
πλήσασα. 

78 Letter 186. νῦν δέ μοι dox@ καὶ ἐμαυτὸν μεταπείσειν καὶ τῆς παρουμίας 
χαταγελάσεσϑαι ὁρῶν αὐτὴν οὕτως ἀγαϑὴν κουροτρόφον. 

79 Odyssey, IX., 27. τρηχεῖ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαϑὴ κουροτρόφος. 


41 


he returned stripped of everything.”*®° The treasures that the 
Greeks took at Troy were popularly supposed to have been fabu- 
lously great, but Odysseus’ misfortune among the Laestrygonians 
and on the Pheacian coast reduced him to complete poverty. Basil 
says of a friend, Maximus, that he had lost a great deal of prop- 
erty, suggesting that “Perhaps he fell in with some Scylla, who 
hid a dog’s fierceness and fury under a woman’s form, or having 
irritated some Laestrygonians against him, suffered these 
things.’’*! The Laestrygonians had wrecked eleven of Odysseus’ 
ships by hurling huge rocks against them. Being a race of giants, 
such a feat was in keeping with their physical prowess. The 
whole story of the Laestrygonian adventure is related at length 
in the Odyssey.’? The adventure with Scylla, who was a monster 
that had formerly been a woman and had been transformed into a 
figure with six heads and something of a dog’s appearance, is also 
narrated shortly after.** 

Speaking of Maximus again, Basil says: “This man was gov- 
ernor of no insignificant people, just as Odysseus was chief of the 
Cephallenians.’’** Later Basil remarks upon the contrast between 
the Iliad and the Odyssey, saying: “Up till this time I thought 
Homer was a fable, when I read the other part of his poem in 
which he tells the story of Odysseus.’’* 

The reference to Odysseus being the chief of the Cephallenians 
occurs in a general way in a verse spoken by one of Odysseus’ 
followers: “νος for the blameless Odysseus, who put me in 
charge of his cattle when I was still a boy in the land of the 
Cephallenians.’”’** Homer does not say that Odysseus was chief 
of the Cephallenians. Basil’s remark about thinking the Homeric 
verses fabulous is a general reference to the wanderings of Odys- 
seus, and a comparison of them with the misfortunes that have 
befallen his friend Maximus. He says a moment later that the 
“misfortune that has struck the excellent Maximus has made me 

80 Letter 147. καὶ πολλὰ χρήματα ἄγων ἐκεῖνος γυμνὸς ἐπανῆλϑε. 

81 Letter 147. καὶ ταῦτα πέπονθε Λαιστρυγόνας τάχα ποὺ ἐφ᾽ ἑαυτὸν 
παροξύνας, καὶ Σκύλλη περιπεσὼν ἐν γυναικείᾳ μορφῇ κυνείαν ἐχούσῃ 
ἀπανϑρωπίαν καὶ ἀγριότηρα. 

82 Cf. Odyssey, X., 80-130. 

83 Cf. Odyssey, XII., 225-260. 

84 Letter 147. καὶ γὰρ καὶ οὗτος ἄρχων ἐγένετο ἔνϑους οὐ φαυλοτάτου, 
ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος ὁ στρατηγὸς τῶν Κεφαλλήνων. 

85 Letter 147. Μῦϑον ἐνόμιζον τεώς τὰ τοῦ Ὁμήρου ὅτε ἐπῇειν αὐτοῦ τὸ 
ἕτερον μέρος τῆς ποιήσεως, ἐν ᾧ τὰ τοῦ ᾽Οδυσσέως πάϑη μεταδιδάσκει. 


86 Odyssey, XX., 200, ff. & μοι ἔπειτ᾽ ᾿ἮΟΕδυσῆος ἀμύμονος ὅς μ᾽ ἐπὶ βουσὶν 
εἷς ἔτι τυτϑὸν ἐόντα Κεφαλλήνων ἑνὶ δήμῳ. 


42 


think what I used to regard as fabulous and unbelievable as being 
quite probable.”®’ 

To sum up satisfactorily the evidence displayed by Basil’s use 
of the Greek poets is no easy task. Quotations that are identified 
by the author are easy to handle, but there remains the difficult 
task of treating those allusions that he does not explain. Most of 
the sophistical rhetors were extremely imaginative and poetical in 
their own way, and the use of highly developed figures express- 
ing wildly fanciful thought, frequently in words long associated 
with poetic usage, results in a diction that will often seer to have 
a trend such as might have been taken from poetry when in 
reality no such usage occurs. The vivid imagery and artificial 
rhythm that occasionally occur in a sophistic writer are no certain 
evidence that he took his choice of words from any poet, or even 
that a borrowing of ideas happened. 


But Basil makes a few points very clear, and some others if 
conjectural are at least probable. The number of authors that 
he names is comparatively limited. He mentions Aeschylus, 
Euripides twice named, Archilochus, Simonides, Solon, Theognis, 
Hesiod, and Homer, who is named five times. But all these names 
represent outstanding figures in Greek literature and are such as 
would readily occur to a man who wished to emphasize a point 
with a story or apt quotation. 


Basil’s use of epic verse is decidedly greater than that of lyric 
and dramatic together. He has eight references that can be con- 
nected with more or less probability with Aeschylus, Aristophanes 
and Euripides, though in the case of Aristophanes it is necessary 
to add that the connection is almost negligible. Curiously enough, 
Sophocles does not appear. 

Basil has nine references traceable to lyric sources. In four 
he cites authors, Archilochus, Solon, Simonides, and Theognis. 
He has one perhaps belonging to Aleman, one from Archilochus, 
as he himself says, one perhaps from Bion, one from Simonides, 
in which that author is named, and one that Basil says is Solon’s, 
and another attributable to Solon and Theognis both, and three 
certainly from Theognis, in one of which he names that writer. 

Basil was more at home among the epic poets. He quotes or 
alludes to Hesiod four times and to Homer twenty-three times. 
It is interesting, however, to note that the bulk of the Homeric ref- 


87 Letter 147. "AAW éxeiva τὰ μυϑικὰ τέως καὶ ἄπιστα πάνυ ἡμᾶς πιϑανὰ 
νομίζειν ἐδίδαξεν ἡ περὶ τὸν πάντα ἀριστον Μάξιμον περιπέτεια. 


43 


erences or quotations have to do with the Odyssey, and that as a 
whole the Iliad is overshadowed. Fifteen references are con- 
cerned with the Odyssey and six with the Iliad. One is from the 
Homeric Hymns. One refers to the Margites, long attributed 
to Homer. Basil uses Homer’s name five times. He names Hesiod 
but once. The adventures of Odysseus occur to him frequently 
and he refers to Odysseus, either calling him by name or alluding 
to him in a significant way, six times. All the instances from 
Hesiod are from the Works and Days, which being full of sen- 
tentious utterances and pithy bits of practical wisdom, are espe- 
cially apt for the use of a glib speaker. Three of the Hesiodic 
instances are found in a single work, the Speech to the Youths, 
and the remaining one appears in the Hexaemeron. 

He likes to appear well acquainted with the poets, but if in his 
hurry he could not remember the exact wording of the passage he 
wanted to quote, it was easy to throw the whole into indirect dis- 
course and tell it as an incident. This Basil generally does. Only 
twice does he give a correct quotation, but upon seven occasions he 
gives quotations that are partially correct, or that contain the 
most noticeable phrasings of the correct verse. He finds it very 
effective to use the wording of the poet and then say at the end 
of the sentence, “as Euripides would say,” or “as the poet says.” 
If he had gotten the lines right well and good, but if he had failed 
nothing had been lost. The indirect citation had removed the 
necessity for absolute accuracy. In the delivery of the practiced 
orator the indirect narration could be used as effectively as direct. 
and if his memory failed he would not be under the necessity of 
having to admit a mistake. 

Moreover, as time went on Basil had many cares and distrac- 
tions, which precluded a continued study of literature. But he 
still had to meet people and address them, so he was of necessity 
often compelled to tax his memory for the common places of 
former days. It is not to be wondered at, then, that with increas- 
ing age his grasp upon the intricacies of the literature that had 
charmed him as a boy gradually relaxed and only those higher 
points remained with him, which were almost unforgetable. A 
sympathetic view of the arduous labors that fell to his share and 
the difficulties that beset his position will go far toward explaining 
the occasional confusion that appears in his literary reminiscences 
and allusions. 


CHAPTER IV 
LEGEND AND HISTORY 


Basil seems well acquainted with legendary tales and refers to 
them with telling effect, proving not only that he had the stories 
well in hand, but that he had a keen sense of their value. Like 
any other sophistical rhetor, he is exact when his memory will 
serve. When it fails he becomes sufficiently vague to escape an 
imputation of being ill informed upon details, though still sufh- 
ciently accurate to present his case with a good front. Most of 
the references that indicate his legendary information come under 
three general heads: First, stories about men, places or societies ; 
second, pure folklore ; third, ancient customs, habits and manners. 
The first group may have a foundation in fact; the second is 
popular fabrication; the third may be either fact or not, according 
as the custom survived, down to a time when it could be verified. 


1. Legend. Anecdotes in the lives of famous men, or groups 
of men, appeal to him. He makes at least four direct references 
to the Pythagoreans, or their founder, and on four occasions 
recalls incidents bearing upon Diogenes the Cynic. He likens 
pleasure to the hydra, and twice finds occasion to refer to the 
labor of Heracles in killing the monster. He urges self-control 
both in temper and judgment, and reinforces his argument with 
two stories about Socrates and how he behaved. He follows up 
the case with further instances, citing stories about Pericles and 
Euclid, and remarks a Stoic proverb, or one attributed to the 
Stoics, and all in favor of moderation or forethought in deed or 
judgment. The Pythagorean doctrines were widespread and had 
many admirers, so of course would be readily understood. He 
cites the Pythagorean Cleinas: “The (case) of Cleinas, one of the 
disciples of Pythagoras, can hardly be thought to conform to our 
teachings accidentally and not from deliberate plan.”! Then he 

1179, A. to δὲ tod Κλεινίου τῶν ΠΠυϑαγόρου γνωρίμων ἑνὸς, χαλεπὸν 


πιστεῦσαι ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου συμβῆναι τοῖς ἡμετέροις ἀλλ᾽ οὐχὶ μιμησαμένου 
σπουδῇ. 


44 


45 


goes on to tell a story of how Cleinas displayed unusual honesty. 


Arguing against elaborate music, he again falls back upon a 
Pythagorean legend: “It is said that Pythagoras, chancing upon 
some revelers who were drunk, commanded the flute player, who 
led the masque, to change the time and play the Doric air for 
them, and they were so sobered by the music that, throwing down 
their crowns, they went home.”* To urge moderation in eating, 
Basil finds an occasion to use Pythagoras again. A mass of 
legend surrounds the quasi-altruistic doings and sayings of the 
philosopher: “And it will be remembered of Pythagoras that, call- 
ing one of his familiars from the gymnastics and eating, which 
were fattening him very much, he said, ‘Will you not cease mak- 
ing your imprisonment harder for yourself?’’’* In order to 
express a high degree of admiration he says that “The Pythag- 
oreans do not esteem their tetracton so much.’’* The tetracton 
of the Pythagoreans was their magic number, and many peculiar 
ideas were prevalent about its powers. Basil's reference would 
appeal to the people. Fully as famous in Greek story as Pythag- 
oras was the Cynic Diogenes. Many tales were fabricated about 
his surly answers, curt remarks and democratic ways. Basil used 
such legend occasionally, and with good effect: “And I admire 
likewise the contempt for all human beings of Diogenes, who 
proved himself richer than the great King, since he needed less 
to live than the other.’”® 


The wealth of the Persian king was long a subject for wonder 
and speculation among the Greeks. Parallel with the above idea, 
Basil brings out a similar view expressed in a different way. 
Writing to Olympius and discussing his own voluntary poverty, 
the saint makes comparisons between his state and that of various 
famous characters who conducted themselves well in straightened 
circumstances. He says of himself that “He never ceased admir- 


2182, Ὁ. Λέγεται δὲ καὶ Πυϑαγόραν κωμασταῖς περιτυχόντα μεϑύουσι, 
χελεῦσαι τὸν αὐλήτην τὸν τοῦ κώμου κατάρχοντα μεταβαλόντα τὴν ἁρμονίαν 
ἐπαυλῆσαι σφίσι τὸ Δώριον. τοὺς δὲ οὕτως ἀναφρονῆσαι ὑπὸ τοὺς μέλους 
ὥστε τοὺς στεφάνους δίψαντας αἰσχυνομένους ἐπανέλϑειν. 

3. 182, C, καὶ τοῦ Πυϑαγόρου μεμνῆσϑαι ὃς τῶν συνόντων τινὰ καταμαϑὼν 
γυμνασίοις τε καὶ σιτίοις ἑαυτὸν εὖ μάλα κατασαρκοῦντα, οὕτως ἔφη. Οὐ 
παύσῃ χαλεπώτερον σεαυτῷ κατασχευάξζων τὸ δεσμοτήριον; 

4 Letter 21. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ Πυϑαγόριοι τοσοῦτον προετίμησαν τὴν τετρακτύν. 

5183, B. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ καὶ Διογένους ἄγαμαι τὴν πάντων ὁμοῦ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων 
ὑπεροψίαν ὅς γε καὶ βασιλεῦς τοῦ μεγάλου ἑαυτὸν ἀπέφηνε πλουσιώτερον τῷ 
ἐλαττόνων ἢ ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὸν βίον προδεῖσθϑοι. 


46 


ing Diogenes, who was content to get along with only the things 
of nature.’’® 


A vast number of stories were told of Diogenes’ rough ways 
of living—that he made his quarters in a tub, and so on. Most 
of these tales were late inventions. A man who lived so hardily 
would naturally have slight care for the niceties of external ap- 
pearances, and thus Diogenes again furnishes material for an 
allusion: ““According to Diogenes’ theory, to busy oneself with 
the hair or clothes more than is necessary is the act of an un- 
fortunate or of an unjust person.”’ Diogenes would naturally 
consider persons who expended upon such concerns the time 
needed for more important matters to be highly unjust, or un- 
fortunate, probably putting a hint of mental deficiency in the 
epithet “unfortunate.” 


But the summing up of Diogenes’ contempt for worldly great- 
ness lay in his behavior with Alexander the Great. This monarch 
represented to the Greeks the pinnacle of earthly prosperity, and 
to treat such a man with scant regard was awe inspiring. In his 
letter to Maximus, the philosopher, Basil touches upon the famous 
reply that Diogenes was said to have made to Alexander when 
the king invited the philosopher to pay him a visit. Basil says: 
“Do not give me the answer of Diogenes to Alexander, ‘It is as 
far from you to me as from me to you.’”’* Diogenes Laertius 
records the equally famous tale of how Diogenes the Cynic told 
Alexander to stand out of his sunlight. This disregard for great- 
ness became proverbial. 


Still more famous in Greek legend and impossible to locate 
with any degree of accuracy is the character of Heracles. His 
toils for the benefit of early Hellas, and especially his twelve 
labors, were themes for many writers. Basil enlarges upon the 
many forms of pleasure and the efforts of moderate people to 
restrain these by comparing them to the many headed hydra, and 
Heracles’ attempts to kill it by cutting off the heads: “The wise 
men of Greece give us to understand the many forms of pleasure, 
and the contest against this, the pleasure generated from the body, 
by a fabulous figure, the hydra, a many headed serpent lying torpid 


6Letter 4. tov δὲ Διογένην οὐδὲ ἐπαύσατο πότε Davudtwv τοῖς παρὰ 
φύσεως μόνοις ἀρκχκεῖσϑαι φιλοτιμούμενον. 

1181, Β. κουρὰς δὲ καὶ ἀμπεχόνας ἔξω τῶν ἀναγκαίων περιεργάζεσϑαι ἢ 
δυστυχούντων ἐστὶ, κατὰ τὸν Διογένους λόγον, ἢ ἀδικούντων. 

81 εἰἴΐεσ 9. ὅπως οὖν μὴ τὸ τοῦ Διογένους πρὸς τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον καὶ αὐτὸς 
ἡμῖν εἴπῃς ὅτι ἴσον ἐστὶ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν τὸ δεῦρο καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐνθένδε. 


47 


in a swamp for physiological reasons. And the head of this ani- 
mal, struck off at one blow, gave forth a triple head born from 
the one. However, being recut with caustic, once for all they 
wisely show it straightway separated from the body.”? He 
returns to the idea of the hydra later, saying of a certain woman 
that she “inhabits a home more savage than that of the many 
headed hydra.’’?° 


He mentions Socrates in an argument for keeping one’s tem- 
per under provocation, telling the following: ‘“‘A certain person 
once struck Socrates, the son of Sophroniscus, in the face, con- 
tinually repeating this, but Socrates did not strike back, but per- 
mitted the enraged man to exhaust his anger.’’*? He remembers 
a similar case in the lives of Pericles and Euclid: “Like this was 
the deed of Pericles and Euclid,’”’’* and says of Euclid again that 
“Once a certain person, enraged at Euclid the Megarian, swore 
death to him, but Euclid in turn swore that the man should surely 
be satisfied and so cease from hostility to him.’’?* Plutarch tells 
the story of Pericles, but makes no mention of Euclid. The latter 
was a pupil of Socrates and seems to have figured in the Socratic 
legend. Stories about Socrates were legion. To show fore- 
thought, Basil calls up another Socratic story: “It was renowned 
of Socrates that he said he would never admire very greatly a 
wealthy man, proud by reason of his wealth, before he could 
declare him from experience of the thing to know how to use it.’"™* 


Considering circumstances philosophically when writing to 
Eustathius, he cites a proverb attributed to the Stoics: “Thus 
runs the Stoic proverb, “Since things do not happen as we prefer, 


9680, C. καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων yao οἱ σοφοὶ τό τε πολυειδὲς τῆς ἡδονῆς καὶ 
τὴν πρὸς τοῦτο μάχην ἡμῖν διὰ μυϑικοῦ πλάσματος αἰνιττόμενοι, ὕδραν τὴν 
γενικὴν ἐν τῷ σώματι ἡδονὴν, ἕρπον τι πολύμορφον, ἐν ἕλει φωλεῦον 
φυσιολογοῦντες ἀνέπλασαν. χαὶ ταύτης τὴν μὲν ἁπλῶς τερνομένην χεφαλὴν 
τοιπλασίονας ἀντὶ τῆς μιᾶς ἐκφύειν παρέδοσαν. τὴν δὲ καυτῆρι τερνομένην 
ἀναιρεῖσϑαι καϑάπαξ φιλοσόφως ὑπέδειξαν. 

10 Letter 315. καὶ οἰκίαν οἰκούσῃ ὕδρας τινὸς πολυχεφάλου χαλεπωτέραν. 

11779, C. Ἔτυπτέ τις τὸν Σωφρονίσκου Σωκράτην εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ πούσωπον 
ἐμπεσὼν ἀφειδῶς. ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀντῆρειν ἀλλὰ παρεῖχε τῷ παροινοῦν τι τῆς ὀογῆς 
ἐμφορεῖσθϑαι. 

12179, D. τὸ δὲ τοῦ Περιχλέους ἢ τὸ Ευχλείδου τῷ τοὺς διώκοντας 
ὑπομένειν. 

18179, B. Πάλιν τὶς Εὐκλείδη τῷ Μεγαρόϑεν παροξυνϑεὶς ϑάνατον 
ἠπείλησε καὶ ἐπώμοσεν. 6 δὲ ἀντώμοσεν ἧ μὴν ἰλεώσασϑαι αὐτὸν καὶ παύσειν 
χαλεπῶς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχοντα. 

14183, C. τὸ γὰρ τοῦ Σωχράτους εὖ ἔχει. ὃς μέγα φρονοῦντος πλουσίου 
ἀνδρὸς ἐπὶ τοῖς χρήμασι, οὐ πρότερον αὐτὸν ϑαυμάσειν ἔφη, πρὶν ἂν καὶ ὅτι 
χεχρῆσϑαι τούτοις ἐπίσταται πειραϑῆναι. 


48 


we prefer what happens.’’’® Basil is free in his use of proverbs, 
or aphorisms. Most of these are very varied in meaning, accord- 
ing to the varying situations that call them forth. Writing to 
Maximus, the philosopher, he says, “I have learned from your let- 
ters, as they say, to know a lion from his claws.’ The idea is a 
very old one, but is perhaps traceable to the sculptor Phidias, who 
is said to have been capable of judging from the claw of a lion 
how to model correctly the rest of the animal’s form.’7 On a par 
with this keen observation is the idea that Basil expresses in the 
following: “I have learned Thee from observing myself, and 
observing myself, I have known Thy infinite wisdom.”** Credit 
for this idea is ascribed to many philosophers such as Thales, 
Chilo, Cleobulus, Bias, Pythagoras and Socrates. It was doubt- 
less a common idea of the philosophical schools and perhaps re- 
lated to the famous saying, “Know thyself.” In the speech To 
the Youths, Basil urges activity in seizing opportunities, rein- 
forcing his words with two well placed sayings, “But we to whom 
rewards are proposed, so marvelous on account of their number 
and greatness that they cannot be set forth in words, if we ‘sleep 
upon both ears’ and if we live loosely, will this reward be given 
‘to grasp with one hand.’’’*® The expressions “to sleep upon both 
ears” and “to grasp with one hand” were common ones, indica- 
tive of dilatoriness and sluggish behavior in the face of oppor- 
tunity. Continuing the argument for greater activity, he says: 
“T advise you to leave no stone unturned, as the proverb has it, 
working hard to prepare a viaticum that you may have for all 
tume,‘’*° 

He uses other stray proverbs in various ways. Urging young 
men to examine their study in order to make it accord with their 
purpose in life, he recommends them to do it, “testing each stone 
with the measuring line.’ This is a Doric proverb, cited also 

15 Letter 151. 6 μὲν οὖν τοῦ Στοϊκοῦ λόγος. ᾿Επειδὴ φησὶ μὴ γίνεται τὰ 
πράγματα ὡς βουλόμεϑα ὡς γίνεται βουλόμεϑα. 

16Letter 9. χατεμάϑομεν οὖν σε διὰ τοῦ γράμματος ὅσον φασίν, ἐξ 
ὀνύχων τὸν λέοντα. 

17 Cf. Lucian, Hermotimus, 54. 

1887 (, ᾿Εϑαυμαστώϑη ἡ γνῶσις σοῦ ἐξ ἐμοῦ. τουτέστιν ἐμαυτὸν κατα- 
μαϑὼν τὸ ὑπερβάλλον τῆς ἐν σοὶ σοφίας ἐξεδιδάχϑην. 

19 180, C. Ἡμῖν δὲ οἷς ἄϑλα τοῦ βίου πρόκειται οὕτω ϑαυμαστὰ πλήϑει τε 
καὶ μεγέϑει ὥστε ἀδύνατα εἶναι ῥδηϑῆναι λόγῳ ἐπ’ ἄμφω καϑεύδουσι καὶ κατὰ 
πολλὴν διαιτωμένοις ἄδειαν τῇ ἑτέρᾳ λαβεῖν τῶν χειρῶν ὑπάρξει. 

τῇ 184, D. Πρὸς ὅνπερ κτᾶσϑαι παραινέσαιμ᾽ ἂν τὰ ἐφόδια πάντα λίϑον 
κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν κινοῦντας. 

21176, D. τὸν λίϑον ποτὶ τὰν σπάοτον ἄγοντας. 


49 


by Gregory Nazienzen (Letter 38) and by John Chrysostom 
(Homily 25). 

In a letter to Censitorus, Basil makes use of an expression 
traceable perhaps to Aristotle: “Remembering the author of the 
wise saying, ‘A friend is another 561{. 22. The idea is generally 
expressed in the Eighth Book of the Nichomachean Ethics. Ina 
letter to Antipater, Basil refers to his own poor health and his 
inability to derive help from medical treatment, saying that he 
has been “not heeding the proverb which says, ‘Warmth 15 of no 
good to the dead.’ ’’*8 

Writing to Timotheus and referring to the uselessness of re- 
minding him about the scriptures, as he knew them quite well him- 
self, Basil says: “Τὸ recite to you the evidence of the Holy Writ 
would be as ridiculous, as they say, as “to carry owls to Athens.’ ”’** 
How this proverb originated is hard to say. Athens was devoted 
to Athena, whose symbol was an owl, and the owl was stamped 
upon Athenian coins. Aristophanes in the Birds gives the idea 
very generally expressed. It was like “carrying coals to New- 
castle.” 

It will be evident that Basil, while not using such sayings very 
frequently, knew how to employ them with good effect. In public 
addresses, or in a letter where a bit of friendly advice is offered, 
such ideas come to the front. Elsewhere he is not much in favor 
of their employment. 

Games and athletic contests were dear to the Greek mind, and 
references to them were effective. The rage for such exhibitions 
and public shows is too well known to require comment. Basil 
makes six direct references to the games, and there are through- 
out his writings unmistakable traces of perfect familiarity with 
such affairs. In other places obscure remarks might be construed 
as having a bearing upon the same theme. Urging the need of 
spiritual exercises, he says to his hearers: “Toil is fitting for 
athletes.”2> Throughout his works he finds many occasions to 
tell his auditors that a similarity exists between the physical labors 
of life and its contests, and the spiritual struggles of those who 


22 Letter 83. καὶ μεμνημένος τοῦ σοφῶς εἰπόντος ἄλλον ἑαυτὸν εἶναι τὸν 
φίλον. 

28 Letter 137. μηδὲ τῆς παροιμίας ἀκούων τῆς οὐδὲν ἀπὸ ϑεομῶν ὄφελος 
εἶναι τοῖς τεϑνηκόσι λεγούσης. 

24Letter 201. τὰ δὲ ἐκ τῶν Γραφῶν σοι διηγεῖσθαι οὐχ ἧττον ἐστὶ 
καταγέλαστον ἢ γλαῦχα φησὶν ᾿Αϑηναίοις ἄγειν. 

25 Hom. in Ps. Prima., sec. 4 (93, A). ἐνεργήματι ἐστὶν ἀϑληταῖς 
πρέποντα. 


50 


would gain salvation. He puts the thought clearly in a letter, say- 
ing, “Just as athletes win crowns in the arena, so Christians are 
brought to perfection by the trials of their temptations.”’® These 
references to the great games of Greece had good effect.?7_ Writ- 
ing to Libanius, Basil mentions by name Polydamas, an athlete of 
Scotussa, and Milo, a famous athlete of Crotona. Pausanias tells 
about Polydamas,”* but Basil’s letter offers no information except 
the common conception of his great strength. In another letter 
Basil reminds a friend that “great crowns seem laid aside for an 
athlete of long endurance,”*® and further in the same letter calls 
Job a great athlete, evidently because of his patience. Basil likes 
to expatiate upon the patient endurance of athletes and their 
steadiness under hardship, and likes to touch upon the technical 
points in games, perhaps to show his familiarity with them. In 
the Liber de Spiritu Sancto he remarks that before one begins a 
new life he should endeavor to put a proper end to what is past, 
“as in the case of sprinters who turn and take the second course, a 
kind of pause intervenes between the opposite motions.’’*° Basil’s 
idea about the runners was particularly apt, for the race track was 
narrow and elliptical in shape, and it was only with a great effort 
and with an almost complete loss of motion that the sprinter, after 
reaching the end, circled the post and started back. For a moment 
after checking himself and before he got started upon his return, 
he would be almost motionless. Basil finds occasion to enlarge 
upon the customs prevailing at games, saying that it behooves 
spectators to be themselves somewhat athletic: “One should learn 
from this, the laws of the show, that all who collect at the stadium 
should sit with their heads uncovered. This, it seems to me, was 
not only for the sake of the view of the contests, but also that each 
one should be in a measure an athlete himself.’’*+ Greek games 


26 Letter 101. ὡς yao τοὺς ἀϑλητὰς οἱ TOV ἀγώνων κάματοι τοῖς 
στεφάνοις προσάγουσιν οὕτω καὶ τοὺς Χριστιανοὺς ἡ ἐν τοῖς πειρασμοῖς 
δοκιμασία πρὸς τὴν τελείωσιν ἄγει. 

2 On this eagerness of the Greeks for athletic contests cf Herodotus 
VIII., 26. Xenophanes (fr. 19) comments ironically upon the importance 
attached to the athletic events of a city. 

28 Cf. Pausanias, VL, 5. 

29 Letter 5. καὶ ὅτι τῆς μεγάλης ὑπομονῆς μεγάλοι παρὰ τῷ ἀϑλοϑέτῃ 
στέφανοι δόξης ἀπόκεινται. 

3029, A. ὡς γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν τὸν δίαυλον ἀνακαμπτόντων στάσις τις καὶ 
ἐπηρέμησις τὰς ἐναντίας κινήσεις διαλαμβάνει. 

3150, B. καὶ τοῦτο ἐκ τῶν πανηγυρικῶν ϑεσμῶν ἄν τις κατίδοι, οἱ τοὺς 
συγκαϑεζομένους εἰς τὸ στάδιον γυμνῇ καϑῆσϑαι τῇ κεφαλῇ διαγορεύουσιν. 
ἐμοὶ doxeiv ἵνα μὴ ϑεατὴς μόνον ἀγωνιστῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀγωνιστὴς ἕκαστος 
αὐτὸς ἐν τῷ μέρει τυγχάνῃ. 


51 


were extremely open air affairs, and the lack of any large covering 
frequently compelled all to submit to the strong sunlight. 

Basil would naturally be very ill disposed to the pagan oracles 
and the many trickeries that they practiced, but he finds occasion 
to refer to them as his discourse requires. This, however, is not 
very frequently. In the course of a wild flight of rhetoric he 
mentions Delphi and one of the other famous places in Castaly: 
“No longer is there a Delphi, no longer oracles, and the seeress 
has become silent; the Castalian fount may be drunk, but the 
drinkers retain their senses. Amphiaraus is an exile, Amphilochus 
is nowhere found, and the statues of false gods are not shown.” 
The Greek mind was affected by at least an outward reverence 
for Delphi, so famous in their legend and surrounded by so many 
stories of Apollo’s doings and responses. The Castalian spring 
has evidently something of a fascination for the rhetoricians, for 
it affords opportunity to display some uncontrollable flights of 
fancy. The spring itself was a fountain in Thessaly, long consid- 
ered by the Greeks a witch-haunted land. Sometime in the past 
the Muses had drunk there. Later witches frequented it. Hecate, 
who presided over crossroads where murderers had been buried 
and lonely places, was its guardian. Those drinking its water fell 
into a frenzy, inspired by the powers that presided over it. Such 
a body of legend would allow a popular speaker opportunity for 
a wild display of imagination. The only other instance in Basil’s 
text of a reference to oracular or pagan rite beliefs is a remark 
about the customs of the Corybantes and of people who went 
insane by reason of the Bacchic frenzy: “Others, according to the 
custom of the Corybantes, went mad at the flute playing and 
became bacchic.’’** This theme is discussed in many parts of 
Greek mythology and is seen in many late variations. Euripides’ 
Bacchae pictures the rites. A great mass of legend grew up 
around the ritual. 

In his remark above about Delphi, Basil mentioned also two 
characters famous in the saga of the time, Amphiaraus and 
Amphilochus. Amphiaraus was a noted figure in Greek legend. 
He was one of the Seven against Thebes and, fleeing after the 
fight, was swallowed up by the earth. His son Amphilochus was 
almost equally noted and was supposed to have founded many 

32446, A. οὐκέτι Δελφοί, οὐκέτι τὰ χρηστήρια, καὶ σιωπᾷ μὲν Fj 
πρόμαντις πίνεται δὲ ἡ Κασταλία, καὶ σωφρονοῦσιν οἱ πίνοντες. φυγὰς ὁ 


᾿Αμωιάραος. ὃ ᾿Αφίλοχος οὐδαμοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἀφιδρύματα ἐξηφάνισται. 
83 182 A. Ἕτεροι δὲ πρὸς αὐλὸν κορυβαντιῶσι καὶ ἐκβακχχεύονται, 


52 


cities. Herodotus mentions two men of the same names, though 
they came much later than the period of the Theban legend.** 


As might be expected, Basil does not neglect the famous story 
of Daedalus and Icarus, working in his allusion neatly in a letter 
to Libanius: “If the art of Daedalus had only been safe, I would 
have made Icarus’ wings for myself and come to you. But wax 
cannot be trusted to the sun, so instead of Icarus’ wings I send 
you words to prove my affection.’’** 


He does not omit the well known tale of Marsyas, the satyr, 
and his musical competition with Apollo. Speaking of athletes 
and urging his hearers not to go out of their fields, he says: “If 
they had meddled with the airs of Marsyas . . . would they 
have won the laurels or crowns?’’*® Marsyas had not only failed 
but had been flayed by Apollo for his presumption. Basil’s advice 
to his hearers to stay in their own departments was certainly 
reinforced by a pointed example. Further on he mentions Timo- 
theus, long famous in Greek story as an expert flute player. Ac- 
cording to common belief Timotheus, figuring in Alexander’s cam- 
paign against Darius, affected Alexander’s spirits by the power 
of his music. Though all the Greeks liked athletics, Basil notes 
that the musicians did not overdo them, but concentrated upon 
his music: “On the other hand, Timotheus did not continue in the 
palestra, neglecting his song.’’*? There are many stories told of 
Timotheus, most of which are late inventions. 


Among the characters of the older legend the daughters of 
Danaus were well known. For the murder of their husbands 
they were condemned by the gods to fill sieves with water, carry- 
ing it from a spring. Later they became symbolical of never end- 
ing labor. Later still they personified the rainy sky. Basil speaks 
of “bearing water in a sieve, pouring it into a perforated jar, 
having no end of labor.’** The toils of the Danaids were pro- 
verbial. 


34 Cf. Herodotus, III., gt. 

35 Letter 359. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ εἴπερ ἣν ἀσφαλὲς ἧ τοῦ διδασκάλου τέχνη, ἦλθον 
ἂν παρὰ σοί, ποιησόμενος ᾿Ικάρου πτερόν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐπειδὴ οὐχ ἔστιν 
πιστεῦσαι ἡλίῳ κηρὸν, ἀντὶ τῶν ᾿Ικάρου πτερῶν ἐπιστέλλω σόι λόγους 
δεικνύντας τὴν ἡμετέραν φιλίαν. 

86 180, A. Εἰ δὲ τὰ Μαρσύου. . . περιεργάζοντο χρούματα :.. ταχύ 
γ᾽ ἂν στεφάνων ἢ δόξης ἔτυχον. .. 

37 180, A. ᾽᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐ μέντοι οὐδὲ ὁ Τιμόϑευς τὴν μελωδίαν ἀφεὶς ἐν ταῖς 
παλαίστραις διῆγεν. 

38 1γὃ1, Β. Καὶ κοσκίνῳ φέροντες ὕδωρ καὶ εἰς τετρημένον ἀντλοῦντες 
πίϑον οὐδὲν πέρας τῶν πόνων ἔχοντες. 


In contrast with such exertions are the easy lives of such 
people as Sardanapalus. He was considered in fable as a jovial 
character who kept a standing reward for anyone who could 
invent a new pleasure. The saint cites him as an example of 
inertia. If worthlessness were to be cultivated, “then sluggish- 
ness would be praiseworthy in this life, and Sardanapalus, that 
famous man, would be esteemed the most happy of all.’’*® 

Basil uses the wealth of Hymetius as an instance of extreme 
riches, saying in a letter to Sophronius, “How could I place the 
wealth of Hymetius before one prodigal of his property, as you 
are.’’4° In different sources the name is given as Hymintius. 

Basil, however, is never at a loss to mention famous characters. 
He cites Polycleitus and Phidias, the sculptors, in contemning 
pride: “Phidias and Polycleitus, if they had extolled themselves 
by reason of the gold and ivory, of which one made the Elean Jove 
and the other the Argive Juno, would have been laughed at, 
because abandoning their art, by which very thing they had made 
the gold more beautiful and precious, they had taken glory from 
an alien source.’’# 

Basil frequently uses such generalized references as the fol- 
lowing: “O Muses! O Learning! O Athens! What do you not 
give to those who love you?’’*? He is in the midst of a violent 
outburst of praise for the style of Libanius. In another letter 
addressed to Libanius he comments upon the large groves that 
grew by the sacred river Alpheus, remarking that, though many 
rafters had been cut there, that more trees will soon grow, because 
“the sacred Alpheus has promised to restore them.”’** The mar- 
velous nature of the sacred river and its life-giving qualities were 
long celebrated in song and story. 

In his commentary upon Isaias, Basil finds occasion to make 
use of many ancient references, and in one book manages to 
devote an entire chapter to an attack upon the customs of pagan 
banquets.‘ The fashions that prevailed in the banquets of 

39781, C. Πολλοῦ μὲν τ᾽ ἂν ἄξιον, ἦν fH οᾳϑυμία τῷ βίῳ καὶ 6 ye Σαρδα- 
ναπάλυς τὰ πρῶτα πάντων εἰς εὐδαιμονίαν ἐφέρετο. 

40 Letter 272. Πῶς δὲ τὴν Ὑμητίου εὐπορίαν προτιμοτέραν ἐτιϑέμην τῆς 
σῆς οἰκειώσεως ἀνδρὸς οὕτω δαπανῶντος τὴν οὐσίαν; 

41182, C. Ἤ Φειδίας μὲν καὶ Πολύκλειτος εἰ τῷ χρυσίῳ μέγα ἐφρόνουν 
καὶ τῷ ἐλέφαντι Ov ὁ μὲν ᾿Ηλείοις τὸν Δία, ὁ δὲ τὴν ραν ᾿Αργείοις 
ἐποιησάτην καταγελάστῳ ἂν ἤστην ἀλλοτρίῳ πλούτῳ καλλωπιξόμενοι ἀφέντες 
τὴν τέχνην, ὑφ᾽ ἧς καὶ ὁ χρύσος ἡδίων καὶ τιμιώτερος ἀπεδείχϑη. 

421 εἰἴεγ 353. ᾧ Μοῦσαι, καὶ Λόγοι, καὶ ᾿Αϑῆναι, οἷα τοῖς ἑρασταῖς 
δωρεῖσθϑε! 

43 Letter 348. Otc ὁ ἱερὸς ᾿Αλφαῖος ἀποκαταστήσειν κατεπηγγείλατο. 

44 Cf. 401, A-B-C. 


54 
Xenophon and Plato had given place to the greatest luxury, and 
though Basil may have had examples of elder times in mind, it is 
more than probable that later dates or his own time furnished him 
with the theme which he attacks. 

In a letter to Diodorus, Basil touches upon an idea wide- 
spread in antiquity and in places proverbial, the hatred of a step- 
mother for children of a former marriage: “Only the race of 
stepmothers extends hatred beyond death.’’*® Many stories are 
told on this theme, and Euripides and Menander use it with effect 
in their plays. 

The next division of these loose references is the group that 
falls into the province of folklore and popular belief. The Greeks 
left very few of their notions unaccounted for and nearly always 
had a definite locality to which they could attach their stories. A 
belief that was very widespread was that of the baleful influence 
of the moon. This was common to many of the ancients. 

σηληνιάσμος WaS a common expression for epilepsy. Basil 
writes, “Observe how those who sleep under the moon feel abun- 
dant moisture filling their heads.’’*® Some of the ideas about the 
sinister influence of the moon were late and owed part of their 
origin perhaps to confusion in the worships of Hecate and Selene. 
Hecate frequently appeared as the ill-omened deity worshiped in 
the dark of the moon, and in contrast to Selene, who represented 
the moon in its brighter and better aspects. 

Basil makes two references to Aesop and his Fables. Both 
are in letters, in which one would naturally expect him to be some- 
what reminiscent. The first is in a letter to Eustathius, in which 
the saint says: “Taking the unforeseen attitude of hate toward 
me, my opponents appear to renew the old story in Aesop. For 
he has a wolf bring an accusation against a lamb, being ashamed 
to seem to kill an animal that had not injured him, unless with 
some plausible reason. When the lamb refuted the lie the wolf 
continued the attack and, being worsted in doing the right, came 
off better in biting.’’47 

45 Letter 160. Μόνον ree τὸ γένος TOV μητρυιῶν καὶ μετὰ ϑάνατον 
ἐλαύνει τὴν ἔχϑραν. 

4661, B. Δηλοῦσι δὲ οἱ cadences ὑστὸ σελήνην ὑγρότητος περισσῆς 
τὰς τῆς ἀξ σλης εὐρυχωρίας πληρούμενοι. 

47 Letter 189, sec. 2. “Ed0Eav οὖν μοι παραπλήσιόν τι ποιεῖν τῷ Αἰσοπείῳ 
μύϑῳ οἱ τὸ ἀπροφάσιστον καϑ’ ἡμῶν ἀναλαβόντες μῖσος. ὡς γὰρ ἐκεῖνος 
ἐγχλήματά τινα τῷ ἀρνίῳ τὸν λύκον προφέρειν ἐποίησεν αἰσχυνόμενον δῆϑεν 
τὸ δοκεῖν ἄνευ δικαίας προφάσεως ἀναιρεῖν τὸν μηδὲν προλυπήσαντα. τοῦ δὲ 
ἀρνὸς πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκ συκόφαντίας ἐπαγομένην αἰτίαν εὐχερῶς διαλύοντος 


μηδὲν μᾶλλον ὑφίεσϑαι τῆς ὁρμῆς τὸν λύκον ἀλλὰ τοῖς μὲν δικαίοις ἡττᾶσϑαι 
τοῖς δὲ ὀδοῦσι νικᾷν. 


55 


Another reference almost as effective and equally cant is a 
remark in a letter to a writer: “Avoid making your pen go slant- 
wise like Aesop’s crab.’’** The story of the wolf who wished to 
kill the sheep and sought a pretext, but being unable to find one 
killed him anyhow, and the remark attributed to the crab, who 
told his mother, when she reproached him for walking slantwise, 
that he would walk straight when she showed him how, were well 
known and would have required no comment. Basil could have 
been sure that anyone would understand. 


In dealing with the customs of different nations, Basil gives 
some predominance to the Spartans, though this is perhaps ac- 
counted for on the ground that the Spartans had a wide reputa- 
tion for habits and manners conducive to discipline and training. 
In a letter to Gregory he hints at the Lacedemonian brevity of 
speech in this remark: “Certainly there is no trouble in writing 
the Laconian letters that continually reach us from you.’’** He 
notes this idea of very curt conversational habits in a letter to 
Olympius: “Therefore, return to your former habit and do not 
make me complain of your Laconic ways.’*° The Spartan brevity 
of speech afforded theme for a vast deal of comment from the 
rest of the Greeks, who were by no means so reticent.. 


Referring to the light clothing worn by the Spartan women 
because of their many exercises, Basil finds occasion to mention 
that the garments were transparent, calling them “garments that 
are for the home and transparent Laconian garments.” In the 
same paragraph he says: “Thus are imitated the clothes of 
Laconian women who eschewed being plainly naked as an un- 
seemly thing, but cast on a linen garment wound around them 
very thinly.”°? The saint seems displeased with women of his 
own times who affected the Laconian transparent style without the 
Laconian excuse of exercising. 


His only other reference to a Spartan custom is a mention 
of the Spartan skytale. In a letter to Candidianus he makes his 


48 Letter 334. Μὴ δὲ βιάζου tov κάλαμον λοξὰ βαδίζειν ὥσπερ τὸν παρ᾽ 
Αἰσώπῳ καρκίνον. 

49 Letter 19. Πάντως δὲ οὐδεὶς πόνος Λακωνικῆς ἐπιστολῆς ὁποῖαι εἰσὶν 
ai παρὰ σοῦ ἑχάστοτε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἀφικνούμεναι. 

50 Letter 12. ᾿Επάνελϑε τοίνυν ἐπὶ τὸ boc ὡς οὐκ ἔτι σοι μεμψόμεϑα 
Λακωνίζοντι πρὸς ἡμᾶς διὰ γραμμάτων. 

51469, A. Καὶ τὰ ἐπιβλήματα τὰ κατὰ τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ τὰ διαφανῆ 
Λακωνικά.... ὥστε μιμεῖσϑαι τὰ τῶν Λακαινῶν ἐπιβλήματα. αἱ κατὰ τὴν 
ὄρχησιν τὸ φανερῶς γυμνοῦσϑαι ὡς ἄσεμνον παραιτούμεναι ὑπερβάλλουσαν 
λεπτότητι, λινῆν ἐσθῆτα περιβαλλόμενα. 


56 


allusion very cleverly: “I respect that as if it were a public an- 
nouncement, and while I am smoothing the tablet, looking in, I 
am excited, as was no Laconian defendant looking into the 
Spartan skytale.”®? The skytale was a staff of peculiar shape car- 
ried by a Spartan general in the field. One like it was kept at 
Sparta. To write a despatch a paper was folded around the staff 
and writing made lengthwise upon it. When the papyrus, or 
whatever the tablet was composed of, was unrolled, the letters 
were seen scattered all over the sheet, making no sense. To read 
the message the sheet had to be folded again around the skytale. 
Thus the letter if intercepted was of no good to the enemy. 


Basil touches upon a matter that could hardly be called 
Athenian, yet it was carried to a greater length at Athens than 
anywhere else. Speaking of the proverbial wordiness of the 
Athenian people, Basil remarks of a certain person, when writing 
to Leontius, “In no wise will he be silent, being both sophistical 
and Attic.’** Gossiping and tale bearing was a notorious pro- 
pensity of the Athenians. Scandalmongers and their ilk throve 
in Athens. Basil finds the people of the city in his own day 
decidedly inferior to those of classical Athens: “Now, it would be 
rarer for a wise or eloquent man to appear in our Agora than it 
would have been for branded men, or those with unclean hands, 
to have come into Athens of old.’’*4 


In his work against Eunomius, Basil makes a peculiar ref- 
erence to the use of the scarabaeus, or a beetle similar to our 
scarabaeus, for estimating a period of time. He says: “Accord- 
ing to the opinion of the best informed person, since the scarabei 
move in time, we define the time as the motion of the scarabei.’’*® 
The scarabaeus was especially sacred in Egypt, and some of these 
ideas of Egyptian customs reflect institutions unusually aged and 
confused. 

In his commentary upon Isaias the saint refers to a local habit 
of the Phoenicians, who cultivated their vines with oxen, though it 
does not appear why this was so. Basil writes of some people that 

52Tetter 3. Εὐλαβήϑην αὐτὴν ὥς τι δημόσιον προσαγγέλλουσαν, καὶ 
παρ᾽ ὃν ἐξέλυον καιρὸν τὸν κηρὸν ἐφοβούμην προσβλέπων, ὡς οὐδεὶς ἐν 
αἰτίαις ὧν Σπαρτιάτης Λακωνικὴν σχυτάλην. 

58 Letter 20. σιωπήσει δὲ οὐδαμῶς, σοφιστική τε οὖσα καὶ ᾿Αττική. 

64} εἰἴοσγ 74. ὥστε τῶν περὶ παιδείαν καὶ λόγους ἧττον ἂν φανείη νῦν τις 
ἐμβαλὼν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἢ ᾿Αϑήνησι πρότερον οἱ ἀτιμίαν καταγνωσμένοι ἢ τας 
χεῖρας ὄντες μὴ καϑαροί. 

55 233, C. Οὐκοῦν κατὰ τὸν τοῦ σοφωτάτου λόγον, ἐπειδὴ καὶ κάνϑαροι 
ἐν χρόνῳ κινοῦνται δρισώμεϑα τὸν χρόνον εἶναι ποιάν τινα κανϑάρων κίνησιν. 


7 
“The diction of these people indicates the indigenous custom ot 


their country, just as cultivating the vines with oxen in the case 
of the Pheenicians.’’°* 


2. Historical Writers. In discussing the historians from whom 
Basil draws most of his references and most of his information 
about antiquity, it seems advisable to include among them not 
only the professed historian, but also the biographer, who collected 
information not of great political importance, but frequently very 
significant when the lives of the men who guided the politics of 
the time are considered. Basil works in two references to Xerxes 
in his letters. He is distinctly literary in his correspondence and 
handles his allusions effectively. Speaking of creating great 
wonder, Basil says that Libanius could not have caused more “if 
you had led the barbarian sailing over Mt. Αἰπος. 7 Xerxes’ 
feat in digging a canal through the promontory back of Mt. Athos 
was a source of never ending wonder to the Greeks. Herodotus 
discusses it as an almost impossible feat of engineering.®® Later 
Greeks thought the whole story a fable. 

In another letter to Libanius he alludes to the number of the 
troops mustered at Thermopylae, saying, “I have ordered as many 
rafters supplied as were soldiers at Thermopylae.’*® Popular 
legend long gave the number of men as three hundred, but these 
were the Spartans alone. The allied forces made up a much more 
numerous contingent.® 

Speaking of great wealth in his address To the Youths, Basil 
says: “For us, however, unless the talents of the Mysian Pythius 
are at hand, unless there are numberless herds of cattle, unless 
there are so many lands and so many fields, nothing suffices.’ 
Pythius was a Lydian of great wealth who banqueted Xerxes’ 
entire army when it passed through his country on the great in- 
vasion of Greece.** Inasmuch as Herodotus asserts in another 
passage that Xerxes’ armed forces comprised about two millions 


58 488, ἢ. Ἡ μὲν λέξις τὴν ἐγχώριον συνήϑειαν λέγει τῶν κατὰ Φοινίκην 
διὰ βοῶν ἀροτριώντων τὴν ἄμπελον. 

57 Letter 330. ἢ εἰ τὸν βάρβαρον ἦγες ὡτὲρ τὸν "Adm πλέοντα. 

78 7 Herodotus, ΜΠ 22, 25 

°9 Letter 348. ἰσαρίϑμους τοῖς ἐν ϑερμοπύλαις ἄγωνιζομένοις στρατιώταις 
στρωτῆρας χρησϑῆναι προσέταξα. 

60 Cf. Herodotus, VII., 202, for a detailed catalogue of the troops. 

81 183, C. Ἡμῖν δὲ ἄρα εἰ μὴ τὰ Πυϑίου τοῦ Μυσοῦ προσείη τάλαντα 
καὶ πλέϑρα γῆς τόσα καὶ τόσα καὶ βοσκημάτων ἐσμοὶ πλείους ἢ ἀριϑμῆσαι 
οὐδὲν ἐξαρκέσει. 

εὐ Herodotus, VII., 27, 20. 


58 


of men, such a feat as Pythius performed would justly be regarded 
as remarkable. 

In his Consolatio ad Aegrotum, Basil delivers this opinion: 
“The age of man is brief ; the splendor of a toilsome life is short. 
It is the web of a spider ; human opinion is uncertain. The phan- 
tasy of life is a dream, but the repose of the just is most happy.’’®* 
This idea is an echo of a speech which Herodotus puts down as 
Xerxes’, in which the King says: “After meditating the thought 
struck me to weep for the shortness of all human existence, for 
of all the men who are here present, in a hundred years from now 
not one will be alive.’®* Then, taking up the theme throughout 
succeeding paragraphs, another character who answers Xerxes 
develops the idea of the mutability of human affairs and their total 
uncertainty. 


Dwelling upon clemency in a letter to Andronicus, Basil com- 
ments upon a story Herodotus tells about Croesus, whose son was 
accidentally slain by a man called Adrastus, but who “ceased from 
wrath against the slayer of his son when he gave himself up for 
punishment.’’® The story is related at length by Herodotus, who 
says that “Croesus, having heard Adrastus’ request for death, 
pitied him.’’** 


The other reference to Croesus appears in the same letter, 
when Basil speaks of the friendship that began between Croesus 
and Cyrus the Great, after Cyrus had subdued Lydia: “The great 
Cyrus became a friend to this very Croesus after the victory.’”* 
The story is told at considerable length and with the addition of 
many details by Herodotus.®* The one other case in which Basil 
mentions Lydia is in the speech To the Youths, when he has an 
opportunity to expatiate at length upon the necessity of shunning 
superfluous wealth: “Whatever is superfluous and exceeds the 
measure of necessity, whether it should be the Lydian sand or the 


83 Consolatio ad AXgrotum. ὃ βίος τῶν ἀνθρώπων βραχὺς καὶ dAryo- 
χρόνιος τῆς ἐπιμόχϑου ζωῆς ἣ φαιδρότης, ἱστὸς ἀράχνης εὐδιάλυτος ἣ δόξα ἣ 
φαντασία τοῦ βίου ὄναρ ἀλλὰ μακχριωτάτη τῶν δικαίων ἣ ἄνεσις. 

961 Herodotus, VII., 46. ᾿Εσῆλϑε γάρ με λογισάμενον κατοιχτῖραι ὡς 
βραχὺς εἴη ὁ πᾶς ἀνϑρώπινος βίος εἰ τούτων γε ἐόντων τοσούτων οὐδεὶς ἐς 
ἑκατοστὸν ἔτος περιέσται. 

65 Letter 112. οὕτω καὶ Κροῖσος τῷ παιδοφόνῳ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀφεῖναι λέγεται 
ἑαυτὸν παραδόντι cic τιμωρίαν. 

66 Herodotus, 1., 45. Κροῖσος δὲ τούτων ἀχούσας τόν τε ~“Adonotov 
YOTOUXTIOEL. 

6&7 Letter 112. Καὶ Κῦρος ὃ μέγας αὐτῷ τούτῳ τῷ Κροίσῳ φίλος γενέσϑαι 
μετὰ τὴν νίχην. 


68 Cf. Herodotus, I., 88. 


59 


labor of the gold bearing ants, so much more should be shunned.’®® 
The river Pactolus in Lydia carried down gold in its sands and 
was considered a source of great wealth by the ancients. Croesus 
had controlled all the gold mines and made himself famous for 
his riches. The gold of the river’s sands was well known. The 
case of the ants is also derived from the same author. An idea 
long prevailed that in India existed ants which mined and hoarded 
gold. This is also dwelt upon at considerable length in the same 
book." 

Besides Herodotus, Basil could have used other writers effect- 
ively for information on Egyptian matters, but the old historian 
was popular among the Greeks. The saint is touching upon a very 
ancient idea among the Hellenes when he says that “the blood of 
the bull is poison for you.”*? This notion was very prevalent in 
Greek literature. Aristophanes makes one of his characters in the 
Knights, when contemplating suicide, say, “It were best for us to 
drink the blood of a bull,’’** and Herodotus tells at length the story 
of Psalmennitus, the last ruler of Egypt, and how, when he had 
been taken by Cambyses and convicted of a plot, “Being con- 
strained by Cambyses, he drank the blood of a bull and died. 
Thus, then, he perished.”** 

Basil takes up a peculiarly Egyptian instance when he speaks 
of the hippopotamus, which the Greeks first met on the upper Nile, 
and which they ever after associated with things Egyptian. In 
speaking of various kinds of amphibious animals, he mentions the 
hippopotamus, saying, “Such amphibia as seals, crabs, crocodiles, 
river horses and frogs.”** Herodotus, the first Greek traveler 
who left a connected record of his Egyptian impressions, describes 
this peculiar animal at some length."* Basil’s final reference to 
Egyptian things has to do with the statues and carvings that 
Herodotus mentions as being so numerous in certain parts. The 
Commentaries upon Isaias have this passage, in which Basil writes: 

69 183, A. Td γὰρ τῆς χρείας περιττότερον, κἂν Λύδιον ἦ ψῆγμα χὰν τῶν 
μυρμήκων ἔργον τῶν χουσοφόρων τοσούτῳ πλέον ἀτιμάσει, ὅσῳ περ ἂν ἧττον 
ποοσδέηται. 

70 Cf. Herodotus, V., 101. 

τι Cf. Herodotus, 111., 102. 

72 43, B. ἐπειδή σοι δηλητήριον τὸ ταύριον αἷμα. 

73 Knights, 82. βέλτιστον ἣἥμῖν αἷμα ταύρειον πιεῖν. 

74 Herodotus, III., 15. ὑπὸ Καμβύσεω αἷμα ταύρου πιὼν ἀπέϑανε παρα- 
χοῆμα. οὕτω δὴ οὗτος ἐτελεύτησε. 

τὸ 65, Ὁ. οἷον φῶκαι καὶ κροχόδειλοι καὶ οἱ πόταμοι ἵπποι, χαὶ βάτραχοι, 


καὶ καρχῖνοι. 
76 Cf. Herodotus, 11., 71. 


00 


“in what way will the carved things cry out, carved from wood 
and stone or other material, formed by the art of man into images 
either of four-footed brute animals, or birds, or reptiles, such as 
the simulacra of the Egyptians.’*7 Herodotus mentions in many 
places the various images and the interest in them that the 
Egyptians showed.”8 


In his Commentaries upon the Hexaemeron, Basil uses many 
peculiar ideas about natural history, two of which are taken di- 
rectly from Herodotus. He says that “Vipers are born by gnaw- 
ing through the womb of their mother (killing her), inflicting a 
proper return upon πο. Again he repeats the very idea in the 
same words in the second commentary upon psalm fourteen, say- 
ing, “Vipers are born by gnawing through the womb of their 
mother.”’®° 


Basil’s statement reproduces the story of Herodotus: “Being 
yet in the womb, they gnaw their mother, and having gnawed her 
womb, they make their entrance into the world.’’*? 


The remaining reference comes also in the Hexaemeron, when 
he states that ‘A lioness with difficulty gives birth to one lion.”*®? 
Herodotus has it: ““The lioness, the strongest and fiercest of wild 
beasts, bears but one in her life.’’** 


Basil's remaining references that can be directly connected 
with Herodotus are scattered and without connection with each 
other. He speaks of the old age of Tithonus and Arganthonius, 
having said that he would reject the offer “If anyone were to 
proffer the age of Tithonus or of Arganthonius.’’** Tithonus has 
been mentioned. Herodotus tells of Arganthonius: “Arganthonius 


77558, C. Πῶς ὀλολύξει γλυπτά, ἃ ἐκ ξύλου χαὶ Aidou ἤ τινος ἄλλης ὕλης 
ἐστὶ μορφούσης αὐτὰ τῆς τέχνης εἰς ἀνθρώπων εἰκόνας ἢ ζώων ἀλόγων 
nn A ἢ , 

, nn ~ e ~ ‘ ~ > ld 
τετραπόδων ἢ πτηνῶν, ἢ xal ἑρπετῶν, οἷα τὰ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἔστιν 
ἀφιδρύματα; 

78 Cf. Herodotus, II., ; 131, 143, 176, etc. 

7985, A. Kat ἔχιδναι τὰς μήτρας ἐκφαγοῦσαι προέρχονται πρέποντας TH 
γεννησαμένῃ τοὺς μισϑοὺς ἐκτιννύουσαι. 

80 1τι, D. τὰς ἐχίδνας λέγουσι τὴν γαστέρα τῆς μητρὸς διεσϑιούσας 
τίκτεσϑαι. 

81 Herodotus, {Π1., 109. ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ ἐόντα τὰ τέκνα διεσϑίει τὴν μητέρα 
διαφαγόντα δὲ τὴν νηδὺν αὐτῆς οὕτω τὴν ἔκδυσιν ποιέεται. 

8285, A. ὅϑεν λέοντος ἑνὸς μόλις ἣ λέαινα μήτηρ γίνεται. 

83 Herodotus, III., 108. 4 δὲ δὴ λέαινα ἐὸν ἰσχυρότατον καὶ ϑρασύτατον, 
ἅπαξ ἐν τῷ βίῳ τίκτει ἕν. 

84784, C. ᾿Εγὼ δὲ κἂν τὸ Τιϑωνοῦ tic γῆρας, κἂν τὸ ᾿Αργανϑωνίου 
λέγῃ ses 


61 


ruled over Tartessus eighty years, and he lived altogether one 
hundred and twenty.’’®° 

In the same work occurs another stray reference: “I do not 
see, except as it is in the fables of the dragons, that it is pleasant 
or satisfactory to keep guard over treasures that have been 
buried.”** Herodotus tells at length of the gold guarding griffins 
of Scythia and the one-eyed Arimaspi who inhabited the country 
and who fought with the griffins for the gold.*’ The same fan- 
tastic theme must have been well known to the poets. Aeschylus 
has a line in Prometheus Bound, “The one-eyed equestrian army 
of Arimaspians.”*® 


The Scythians were always known to the Greeks as an eques- 
trian and nomadic nation. Basil is aware of the rough and un- 
civilized habits of these peoples, and calls attention to them in a 
homily upon the psalms: “The Scythian nomads are trained in 
rough and inhuman customs.’’*® The same subject is discussed at 
length by Herodotus in his book upon the Scythians.°° 

Speaking of the relative length of days in the different lati- 
tudes, and the shorter days in the more northern places, Basil 
says, ‘It is this which happens to all of us ‘hetero-skii’ who inhabit 
the northern regions of the earth.’’®' Herodotus has left the 
oldest recorded idea upon the alteration of shadows according to 
the changing position of the sun. He tells of Phoenician navigators 
who sailed around Africa, and noted in the course of their voyage 
that the position of the sun altered, being first upon one hand, and 
when they returned upon the other.* 


In Basil’s Consolatio ad Aegrotum is found a parallelism to 
some passages upon a corresponding subject in Herodotus. The 
saint points out the uncertainty of human efforts and the fleeting 
nature of human gain, and indicates ways to happiness and the 
life of a man who would attain happiness. He concludes, “Such 


85 Herodotus, I., 163. ᾿Αργανϑώνιος ἐτυρράννευσε δὲ Ταρτησοῦ ὀγδώ- 
χοντα ἔτεα ἐβίωσε δὲ πάντα εἴχοσι καὶ ἑκατόν. 

86 83, A. ᾿Εγὼ μὲν οὐχ ὁρῶ πλὴν εἰ μὴ κατὰ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς μύϑοις δράκοντας 
ἡδονήν τινα φέροι ϑησαυροῖς κατορωρυγμένοις ἐπαγρουπνεῖν. 

87 Cf. Herodotus, III., 116, IV., 13, 27. 

88 Prometheus Bound, 805. τόν te μουνῶπα στρατὸν ᾿Αριμασπὸν 
ἱπποβάμον. 

89 192, C. Σχύϑαι δὲ Νομάδες, ἀνημέροις καὶ ἀπανϑρώποις συντραφέντες 
ἤϑεσιν. 

90 ΟἹ. Herodotus, IV., 62-73. 

9157 ( καὶ τοῦτο παρ᾽ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἑτεροσχίοις λεγομένοις ὅσοι τὰ ἀρχτῷα 
τῆς γῆς ἐποικοῦμεν. 

92 Cf. Herodotus, IV., 42. 


62 


is the life of man, a stormy sea, an unsteady wind, an inconstant 
dream, a wandering river, a vanishing smoke, a receding shadow, 
an ocean stormy with breakers, the tempest awe inspiring, the ves- 
sel unsafe, and we, the sailors, asleep.”®* Herodotus takes up the 
theme of the vanity of human wishes and gives the pagan concep- 
tion of happiness. He relates the story of Tellus, the Athenian, 
who after a blameless life died fighting for his country, and again 
the case of Cleobis and Bito, who earned happiness by filial piety, 
and with it the praise of the people and a reward from the gods, 
who sent them a happy and painless death before age had brought 
any of life’s evils. The changeable nature of human things seems 
strongly evident to both authors.** 

Basil’s acquaintance with Thucydides shows but slightly. He 
writes in a letter to Gregory, “Assuredly Alcmaeon, having found 
the Echinades, did not wish to go further.’’®> Alcmaeon is used 
as an instance of someone halting after arriving at a goal, only 
with the greatest difficulty. Thucydides narrates at length the 
whole story: “It is said that Alcmaeon, son of Amphiaraus, was 
told by Apollo, while wandering after the murder of his mother, 
to settle in this land, hinting at no deliverance from his terrors 
until Alemaeon had found a place not in existence and not seen 
by the sun at the time he killed his mother, for the rest of the 
world was cursed for him. And he, wandering, as they say, with 
difficulty, discovered this mud deposit of the Achelous, and it 
seemed to him that enough earth had accumulated to support a 
person during the time that he had been wandering after killing 
his mother. There he settled . . .᾽᾽ 96 


Basil says in a letter to Martinianus, “When I speak of the 
Podandus, suppose that I am referring to the Spartan Ceadas, or 


93 Consolatio ad A®grotum. τοιοῦτος ὁ τῶν ἀνθρώπων Bios ἄστατος 
ϑάλασσα ἀὴρ ἀνώμαλος ὄναρ ἀβέβαιον ῥεῦμα παρατρέχον, καπνὸς διαλε- 
χεόμενος, σκιὰ μεταπηδῶσα πέλαγος ὑπὸ κυμάτων ἐνοχλούμενον. καὶ ἡ μὲν 
ζάλη φοβερὰ ὁ δὲ πλοῦς ἐπισφαλὴς οἱ δὲ ἐπιβάται νυστάζομεν. 

94 Cf. Herodotus, I., 30, 31. 

5 Letter 14. Πάντως yao οὐδὲ ᾿Αλχκμαίων ᾿Εχινάδας εὑρὼν ἔτι τῆς 
πλάνης ἠνέσχετο. 

96 Thucydides, II., 102. λέγεται δὲ καὶ ᾿Αλκχμέωνι τῷ ᾿Αμφιάρεω ὅτε δὴ 
ἀλᾶσϑαι αὐτὸν μετὰ τὸν φόνον τῆς μητρός, τὸν ᾿Απόλλω ταύτην τὴν γῆν 
χρῆσαι οἰκεῖν ὑπειπόντα οὐκ εἷναι λύσιν τῶν δειμάτων πρὶν ἂν εὑρὼν ἐν ταύτῇ 
τῇ χώρᾳ κατοικίστηται ἥτις ὅτε ἔχτεινε τὴν μητέρα μήπω ὑπὸ ἡλίου ἑωρᾶτο 
μηδὲ γῆ ἦν ὡς τῆς γε ἄλλης αὐτῷ μεμιασμένης. ὁ δ᾽ ἀπορῶν ὡς φασὶ μόλις 
κατενόησε τὴν πρόσχωσιν ταύτην τοῦ ᾿Αχελῷου, καὶ ἐδόκει αὐτῷ ἱκανὴ ἂν 
χεχῶσϑαι δίαιτα τῷ σώματι ἀφ᾽ οὗπερ χτείνας τὴν μητέρα οὐκ ὀλίγον χρόνον 
ἐπλανᾶτο καὶ κατοικισϑείς. 


63 


any natural fissure that you have seen.”*? Thucydides mentions 
the Spartan Ceadas. The pit outside the city into which dead 
criminals were cast was long called by this name. Thucydides, in 
telling of the death of the Spartan general, Pausanias, says, “They 
were about to cast him into the Ceadas, where they throw crimi- 
ΒΞ 

Of the ten references which Basil makes that can be referred 
to Plutarch, three deal with Alexander the Great. This is not at 
all strange, considering what a noted character he was in Greek 
history and how he dazzled the Greek imagination as no one had 
done since Achilles. Basil twice finds opportunity to make men- 
tion of Pericles, but the remainder of the observations are scat- 
tered. 


In the speech To the Youths, Basil argues for self-restraint, 
urging the need of respect for others, and telling a story of Alex- 
ander: “I will not pass the deed of Alexander, who, having cap- 
tive the daughters of Darius, whose beauty was said to be unusual, 
did not think it right to look at them.’’®® Plutarch, after discussing 
the treatment of the prisoners, concluded by saying, “Displaying, 
in opposition to the beauty of their appearance, the fairness of his 
own control and moderation, he passed them by as though they 
were but lifeless images.”?°° 

Urging charity in judging, Basil backs up his argument with a 
story of how Alexander acted in a difficult case: “Imitate Alex- 
ander, who received a letter saying that his physician was plotting 
his death. At the very moment when about to drink the medicine 
he was so far from believing the slanderer that he at one and the 
same time read the letter and drank the draught.’ Plutarch 


7 Letter 74. ὅταν δὲ Ποδανδὸν εἴτω tov Keddav με οἵου λέγειν τὸν 
Λακωνικὸν ἢ εἴ που τῆς οἰκουμένης εἶδες βάραϑρον αὐτοφυές. 

98 Thucydides, I., 134. Καὶ αὐτὸν ἐμέλλησαν μὲν ἐς τὸν Καιάδαν (οὗπερ 
τοὺς κακούργους) ἐσβάλλειν. The traveler Pausanias mentions the pit also. 
Cf. Description of Greece, IV., 18, 4, 1. There is a casual notice in Strabo 
of such natural pits, which were called Kaietoi. Cf. Strabo, Geographica, 
VIII., 367. 

99179, A. οὐκ ἂν παρέλϑοιμι τὸ tod ᾿Αλεξάνδρου, ὃς τὰς ϑυγατέρας 
Δαρείου αἰχμαλώτους λαβὼν ϑαυμαστόν τι οἷον το κάλλος παρέχειν μαρτυρου- 
μένας οὐδὲ προσίδειν ἠξίωσιν. 

100 Life of Alexander, 21. ἀντεπιδεικνύμενος δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἰδέαν τὴν 
ἐκείνων τὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐγκρατείας καὶ σωφροσύνης κάλλος, ὥσπερ ἀψύχους 
εἰχόνας ἀγαλμάτων παρέπεψεν. 

101 Letter 272. τὸν ᾿Αλέξανδρον μιμούμενος ὃς ἐπιστολὴν κατὰ τοῦ 
ἰατροῦ δεξάμενος ὡς ἐπιβουλεύοντος ἐπειδὴ ἔτυχεν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ καιρῷ 
φάρμαχον λαβὼν ὥστε πιεῖν τοσοῦτον ἀπέσχε πιστεῦσαι τῷ διαβάλλοντι, 
ὥστε ὁμοῦ τε τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἀναγίγνωσκε καὶ τὸ φάρμαχον ἔπινεν. 


θά 


gives the story: “When the time appointed was at hand, and 
Philip (Philip, the Acarnian, Alexander’s physician) came in 
with the king’s medicine in a cup, Alexander handed him the let- 
ter, while he himself took the medicine with readiness and no sign 
of suspicion. It was an amazing sight then, and one well worthy 
of the stage, the one reading the letter, the other drinking the 
medicine eee 

The last reference to Alexander occurs in a letter from Basil 
to Elias. When asking impartiality, he says, “You remember that 
Alexander, as they say, when one of his friends was being 
calumniated, left one ear open to the slanderer, and carefully 
closed the other with his hand, with the object of showing that he, 
whose duty is to judge, ought not to be easily and entirely given 
to those who first get a hearing, but should keep half his hearing 
for the defense of those absent.’’1°* Plutarch gives the same story, 
though for once in a more abridged form. He writes, “It is said 
that at first, when he was trying capital cases, he would put his 
hand over his ear while the accuser was speaking that he might 
keep it free and unprejudiced for the accused.’’? 


In discussing moderation and self-control, Basil uses a story 
that was current about Pericles. “A man of the agora abused 
Pericles,’’?°* Basil writes. He was a ruffian of exceedingly low 
character, according to Plutarch, who says that he insulted Pericles 
at opportunity throughout the day, but Pericles, “When he was 
about to go home, as it was already growing dark, ordered one of 
his domestics to take a torch and accompany the man guiding him 
to his home.’’?° 

Basil remarks that the conduct of Pericles and Euclid conform 


102 Life of Alexander, 19, 3. ὡς δὲ tov καιροῦ παρόντος εἰσῆλϑε μετὰ 
τῶν ἑταίρων ὁ Φίλιππος τὸ φάρμακον ἐν κύλικι κομίζων, ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἐπέδωκε 
τὴν ἐπιστολὴν, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸ φάρμακον ἐδέξατο προϑύμως καὶ ἀνυπόπτως, 
ὥστε ϑαυμαστὴν καὶ ϑεατρικὴν τὴν ὄψιν εἶναι, τοῦ μὲν ἀναγιγνώσχοντος, τοῦ 
δὲ πίνοντος. 

103 Letter 94. zal γὰρ ἐκεῖνον φασὶ διαβαλλομένου τινὸς τῶν συνήϑων 
τὴν μὲν ἑτέραν τῶν ἀκοῶν ἀνεῖναι τῷ διαβάλλοντι τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν ἐπιμελῶς 
ἐπιφράξασϑαι τῇ χειρί. ἐνδεικνύμενον ὅτι δέοι τὸν ὀρθῶς κρίνειν μέλλοντα 
μὴ ὅλον εὐθὺς τοῖς προλαβοῦσιν ἀπάγεσϑαι ἀλλὰ τὸ ἥμισυ τῆς ἀκροάσεως 
ἀχέραιον διασώζειν πρός ἀπολογίαν τῷ μὴ παρόντι. 

104 Life of Alexander, 42. λέγεται δὲ καὶ τὰς δίκας διακρίνων ἐν ἀρχῇ 
τὰς ϑανατικὰς τὴν χεῖρα τῶν ὥτων τῷ ἑτέρῳ προστιϑέναι τοῦ κατηγόρου 
λέγοντος ὅπως τῷ κινδυνεύοντι καϑαρὸν φυλάττηται καὶ ἀδιάβλητον. 

105 778, B. οἷον, ἐλοιδόρει τὸν Περικλέα τῶν ἐξ ἀγορᾶς τις ἀνθρώπων. 

106 Life of Pericles, 5. ὡς δ᾽ ἔμελλεν εἰσιέναι σκότους ὄντος ἤδη 
προσέταξέ τινι τῶν οἰκετῶν φῶς λαθόντι παραπέμψαι καὶ καταστῆσαι πρὸς 
τὴν οἰκίαν τὸν ἄνϑρωπον. 


65 


to the Christian precepts: ““The deed of Pericles or of Euclid ac- 
cords with this ‘to bear with those who persecute you, and endure 
their anger mildly.’ ”’"" 

In a letter to Libanius Basil works in the famous story of 
Theseus and the Cretan Labyrinth: “Going back again to seek for 
the right order, retreating and following the furrow, like Theseus 
in the story, as they say, following Ariadne’s thread.”?°* Plutarch 
in his life of Theseus tells the story with all its details. In regard 
to the affair of the Labyrinth, Plutarch says, “When Theseus 
sailed to Crete, as most of the poets and historians say, he got a 
thread from Ariadne, who had fallen in love with him, and was 
instructed by her how to find his way through the windings of 
phe ΓΕΒ τ... 109 

The story of the first Gallic invasion of Italy, of how Brennus 
and his men very nearly took the Capitol, but were frustrated by 
the sacred geese, furnishes an anecdote for the Hexaemeron: 
“When the enemy was advancing by subterranean passages to the 
peak of the Capitol of Rome to take it, the sacred geese announced 
the danger.”*° Plutarch tells it thus: “The geese, being specially 
wakeful and restless by reason of their hunger, perceived the 
approach of the Gauls and dashed at them with loud cries and so 
waked the garrison.””*** 

In another part of his commentaries upon the Hexaemeron, 
Basil describes the faithfulness of dogs, referring to a type of 
incident that Plutarch uses in his life of Pyrrhus. Basil remarks 
that “Many dogs are said to have fallen dead in lonely places by 
their murdered masters, and others when a crime has been com- 
mitted have led those who were searching for the murderer, and 
caused the criminals to be brought to justice.” Plutarch’s story 

107 179, D. τὸ δὲ τοῦ Περικλέους ἢ τὸ Εὐκλείδου τῷ τοὺς διώκοντας 
ὑπομένειν καὶ πράως αὐτῶν τῆς ὀργῆς ἀνέχεσθϑαι. 

108 Letter 324. ἀνατρέχειν ἔδει πάλιν καὶ τὴν τάξιν ἐπιζητεῖν ἀναποδί- 
ἕοντα καὶ παρεπόμενον τῷ αὔλακι καϑάπερ τὸν Θησέα τῷ μίτῳ τῆς ᾿Αριάδνης 
φασί. 

109 Theseus, 19. ᾿Επεὶ δὲ κατέπλευσεν εἰς Κρήτην ὡς μὲν οἱ πολλοὶ 
γράφουσι καὶ ἄδουσι παρὰ τῆς Ἀριάδνης ἐρασϑείσης τὸ λίνον λαβὼν καὶ 
διδαχϑεὶς ὡς ἔστι τοῦ Λαβυρίνϑου τοὺς ἑλιγμοὺς διεξελϑεῖν. 

110 γῇ C, πολεμίους τινὰς ὑπὸ γῆς δι᾽ ὑπονόμων ἀφανῶν ἤδη μέλλοντας 
τὴν ἄκραν τῆς Ῥώμης καταλαμβάνειν καταμηνύσαντες. 

τὸς Camillus, 27. éxetvor δὲ καὶ διὰ λιμὸν ἀγρυπηνητικοὶ καὶ ϑοουβώδεις 
γεγονότες ταχὺ τὴν ἔφοδον ἤσϑοντο τῶν Γαλατῶν καὶ μετὰ δρόμου καὶ 
κλαγγῆς φερόμενοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπήγειραν ἅπαντας. 

112 84, D. ὅπου γε καὶ φονευϑεῖσι δεσπόταις κατ᾽ ἐρημίαν πολλοὶ τῶν 
χυνῶν ἐπαποϑανόντες μνημονεύονται. "Hie δὲ τινες ἐπὶ ϑεομῷ τῷ πάϑει καὶ 


ὁδηγοὶ τοῖς ἐκζητοῦσι τοὺς φονέας ἐγένοντο καὶ ὑπὸ δίκην ἀχϑῆναι τοὺς 
χκαχούργους ἐποίησαν. 


66 


is as follows: “King Pyrrhus, going upon a journey, chanced upon 
a dog guarding the body of a murdered man . . . (He ordered 
the body buried and the dog brought along with him. After a 
considerable length of time the dog came into the presence of the 
criminals.) . . . When he saw the murderers of his master 
present he rushed upon them with violence and barking 

and they say that the dog of Hesiod, the philosopher, did the very 
same things.’’?*% 


Writing to Candidianus, Basil tells of the affairs of Demos- 
thenes in comparison with those of Candidianus: “I could com- 
pare the condition of your affairs with Demosthenes. He, indeed, 
you remember, when he furnished choruses with a few choristers 
and flute players, wished no more to be called Demosthenes, but 
choregus.”** Plutarch makes the following remark upon the 
same case: “Demosthenes, who is now not Demosthenes, but law- 
giver, choregus, and crown-bearer.”1** 


Urging Martinianus to stand fast by his expressed political 
principles, Basil writes: “You will thus either prove some help 
to the state or you will at least have done what Solon did.”'*® 
He then goes on to tell the story of how Solon, when the Pisistrids 
seized the Acropolis, being then an old man and unable to prevent 
the action, put on his arms and sat down before the gate to indicate 
that he was not in sympathy with the move. Plutarch has it, 
that Solon “Went to his house and, taking his arms, put them in 
the street before the gate, saying, ‘I have done all I can to help 
the country and the law.’’’" Aristotle mentions the case in his 
Constitution of Athens, using it to illustrate his theories of gov- 
ernment.'!® Diogenes Laertius also speaks of it and gives the 


113 Plutarch, De Sollertia Animalum, 13. Πύρρος δ᾽ 6 βασιλεὺς ὁδεύων 
ἐνέτυχε κυνὶ PEOVEOUVTL σῶμα πεφονευμένου. . . ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς φονέας τοῦ 
δεσπότου παριόντας εἶδεν ἐξέδραμε μετὰ φωνῆς καὶ ϑυμοῦ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς. .. 
ταὐτὰ δὲ καὶ τὸν ἩΗσιόδου κύνα τοῦ σοφοῦ δρᾶσαι λέγουσι. 

114 Letter 3. τοῦτο δὲ πρὸς τὰ Δημοσϑένους τὰ σὰ κρίναντι. ὅτι ὃ μὲν 
ἐπειδὴ ὀλίγοις τισὶ χορευταῖς καὶ αὐληταῖς ἐχορήγει οὐκέτι ἠξίου Δημοσϑένης 
ἀλλὰ χορηγὸς ὀνομάζεσθϑαι. 

115 Plutarch, Precepta Gerendae Reipublicae, 22. ὅτι νῦν οὐκ ἔστι 
Δημοσϑένης μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ϑεσμοϑέτης ἢ χορηγὸς ἢ στεφανηφόρος. 

116 Letter 74. Ἢ γὰρ γενήσῃ τι ὄφελος τοῖς κοινοῖς ἢ τό γε τοῦ Σόλωνος 
πεποιηκὼς ἔσῃ. 

117 Solon, 30. ἀπῆλϑεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ λαβὼν τὰ ὅπλα καὶ 
πρὸ τῶν ϑυρῶν ϑέμενος εἰς τὸν στενωπὸν, ᾿Εμοὶ μὲν εἶπεν, ὡς δυνατὸν ἦν 
βεβοήϑηται τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τοῖς νόμοις. 

118 Cf, Aristotle, Politeia Athenaion, 14, 2. 


67 


answer that Solon was supposed to have made on being reproached 
for his behavior.**® 

In the case of Xenophon there is very little to indicate the 
extent of Basil’s readings in or familiarity with this author. 
Xenophon speaks of the ‘mandrake, which gives men sleep.’??° 
Basil uses the same expression. In the Hexaemeron he says that 
“By the mandrake physicians give us sleep.’ The thought is 
the same as well as part of the wording, but the connection is 
loose. Such a remark proves nothing. The other instance is a 
story cited by Basil in the address To the Youths. Xenophon 
relates at length in his Memorabilia the tale of Heracles and his 
choice between Vice and Virtue.’?? The theme is an old one and 
did not originate with Xenophon. The use that Basil makes of the 
story gives good grounds for suspecting that he had Xenophon’s 
version in mind, especially as he quotes a notable verse, also quoted 
in Xenophon’s text. The Greek, too, shows numerous resem- 
blances.*”* 

The story of Milo, which Basil refers to, may be from Pau- 
sanias. Milo, according to the latter’s account, was a famous 
wrestler of Crotona. Basil says that Milo would cling to a greased 
shield, and that his strength was so great that no one could push 
him off: “Milo could not be moved from his shield, but pushed, 
as he was, clung to it no less firmly than statues that are soldered 
with lead.’”’!24 Pausanias tells the same story: “He would stand 
on a greased quoit, laughing at those who tried to shove him and 
push him ὉΠ Ὁ 

With Basil affairs that appeal to the dramatic and excitable 
parts of his hearers’ or readers’ natures are far more to the point 
than cold facts. This was natural, for he sought effect. Many 
references point to Herodotus, who was a born story-teller, but 
not an historian. 

Basil’s historical field is not very wide, and the range of 
authors that he seems to have in mind for ready reference is not 


119 Cf, Diogenes Lertius, Solon, 49. 

120 Symposium, 2, 24. ὁ μανδραγόρας τοὺς ἀνϑρώπους κοιμίζει. .. 

121.43, D. Διὰ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ μανδραγόρου ὕπνον ἰατροὶ κατεπάγουσιν. 

122 Cf, Xenophon Memorabilia, [1., 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26. 

123 Cf, 178, B-C. Cf. Dorgens, Op. cit., for a detailed parallel of the 
two passages. 

124180, ἢ. Kal & ye Μίλων ἀπὸ τῆν ἀληλιμμένης ἀσπίδος οὐκ ἐξωϑεῖτο 
ἀλλ᾽ ἀντεῖχεν ὠϑούμενος οὐχ ἧττον ἢ οἱ ἀνδριάντες οἱ τῷ μολύβδῳ 
συνδεδεμένοι. 

125 Pausanias, VI., 14. ἱστάμενος δὲ ἐπὶ ἀληλιμμένῳ τῷ δίσκῳ γέλωτα 
ἐποιεῖτο τοὺς ἐμπίπτοντάς τε καὶ ὠϑοῦντας ἀπὸ τοῦ δίσκου. 


68 


very great. It will be seen that historical events that are of much 
importance and widely known are practically impossible to assign 
to any definite author. It is necessary in such cases to point out 
which writers do mention them and which ones Basil probably 
read. He made eighteen references that are easily traceable to 
Herodotus, but only two to Xenophon, twenty-four to Plutarch 
and two to Thucydides. In the case of Plutarch it was necessary, 
though, to divide the references according to philosophy and his- 
tory. Those that had to do with history are all that have been 
treated in this chapter. The remaining ones will be found among 
the philosophical references. 

In the ideas derived from Herodotus, mention of the great 
invasion of Greece by Xerxes occurs four times. Three references 
occur to Lydia, two being to Croesus, and one to the gold of the 
country. Three notices appear that trace readily to the book upon 
Egypt. Two observations upon natural history, one of which is 
repeated in another passage, point to the third book of Herodotus. 
The five remaining references are scattered and without connec- 
tion among themselves. 

Basil’s method of referring to incidents of an historical nature 
is the next point to be considered. It is never precise. He uses an 
instance in a way that to an historical reader is neither definite 
nor informative. He inserts his allusions gracefully, but, of 
course, gives no hint of where he got them. His use is purely lit- 
erary and not at all historical or scientific. 


The situation runs true to form. For Basil was a product of 
the second sophistic. We can assume that his presentation was 
truthful as far as he knew, but we can see that it was not specific. 
We recognize a fundamental basis of fact behind the general inci- 
dents to which he airily refers, but we perceive that his references 
are consistently vague. 


We cannot think that he subordinates facts to his fancies, but 
we know that he uses facts loosely to illustrate his fancies. We 
can grant that he would not change facts, but we know that he 
gives the facts in his own language and with his own ideas of 
presentation, which latter were suited to his imaginative audience. 
And an historical event is easily altered in the hands of a speaker 
bent upon presenting it dramatically to his audience. Recording 
of history was not his object. An impression upon his hearers 
meant much. Thus, his use of history is literary or rhetorical, 
and never technical nor historical. 


CHAPTER V 


THE PHILOSOPHERS 


1. Early philosophers. 


Among the very ancient philosophers Prodicus, of Ceos, was 
one of the most noted characters. Basil’s solitary connection with 
him is related to an instance already discussed under Xenophon. 
The origin of the story about Heracles’ choice between vice and 
virtue is attributed by Socrates to Prodicus, though there is no 
extant writing of any sort which can be attributed to Prodicus 
directly. Besides the reference already given under Xenophon, 
the only other source from which we can draw information about 
the story is a scholium on Aristophanes’ Clouds. Basil could have 
heard the story from many sources unknown to us. In the speech 
To the Youths, Basil remarks, after enlarging upon the necessity 
of choosing virtue, “And indeed the sophist Prodicus, of Ceos, 
somewhere in his writings has set forth views resembling these 
about virtue and vice, and he is a man to whom we must give 
attention, for he is not to be slighted.’”” 

The ancient philosopher Zeno receives two notices, one in a 
letter to Olympius and one on the Hexaemeron. Personified 
philosophy, who is supposed to be speaking, says, “I choose to 
live with this man (Basil), who admires Zeno. That illustrious 
man having lost all his property in a shipwreck, cried out in no 
unmanly way, ‘Well done, O. Fortune, you have reduced me to a 
well worn cloak.’’”’* Zeno, as the founder of the Stoic school, 
was famous, and innumerable stories grew up about the Stoics. 
Another reference to a Stoic doctrine set forth by Zeno is rather 

τ ΟἹ. Diels, Fragmente d. Vorsokratiker, Vol. II. 

2177, A. Kat μὴν καὶ ὁ Κεῖός που σοφοστὴς Πρόδικος τῶν ἑαυτοῦ 
συγγραμμάτων ἀδελφὰ τούτοις εἰς ἀρετὴν καὶ κακίαν ἐφιλοσόφησεν, ᾧ δὴ καὶ 
αὐτῷ τὴν διάνοιαν προσεχτέον. οὐ γὰρ ἀπόβλητος ὁ ἀνήρ. 

3 Letter 4. Τούτῳ συνοικεῖν εἰλόμην ἐγὼ νῦν μὲν τὸν Ζήνωνα ἐπαινοῦντι, 
ὃς ναυαγίῳ πάντα ἀποβαλὼν οὐδὲν ἀγενὲς ἐφϑέξατο. ἀλλ᾽ Εὖγε, εἶπεν, ὦ 
τύχη συνελαύνεις ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ τοιβώνιον. 


69 


70 


vague. After arguing that the nature philosophers disagree among 
themselves, Basil goes on to say of the sea that the heat of the sun, 
evaporating the water, “leaves behind the salt and bitterness of 
the water, and by reason of the warmth absorbs the pure and 
drinkable mollicules.”* The idea is paralleled by a stray remark 
in Diogenes Laertius’ life of Zeno: “The moon is more earth-like, 
being nearer the earth, and the fiery masses and the other stars 
are nourished from the great sea, and even the sun is intellectual 
and kindled from the sea.”* How they are nourished or from 
what particles of sea water they draw power is not clear. Such 
ideas were very old and had been threshed over again and again 
in various schools. Diogenes in the same article repeatedly cites 
men who are only names to us, and who had written book after 
book, not one of which has come down. Most of these confused 
theories are almost beyond definite location. 

Basil throughout his works shows many traces of acquaintance 
with the early philosophers. For instance, he cites a teaching as in 
the case of Heraclitus, ‘“The essence of fire is necessary to the 
universe.”® This was the thesis of Heraclitus, who entered many 
fields and endeavored to find the first cause of things. Basil 
remarks of these early philosophers that “Some had recourse to 
material principles and attributed the origin of the universe to the 
elements of the world.” 

In this characterization he probably had in mind the Atomists. 
He seems to have had a poor opinion of the Stoics, saying, “Let 
the supporters of impiety hereafter be classed with the Stoics and 
Epicureans.”* In a letter to Amphilochius he brings up a quota- 
tion, perhaps not offered in earnest, speaking of “The weighty 
problem put by Eucratites, ‘Why do we not eat everything?’ ’”® 
Eucratites does not appear among the pre-Socratics and was 
probably one of the quibbling sophists. 

Basil speaks of the books of the philosopher Dionysius, writ- 

430, A. Καὶ προσέτι ἁλμυρὰν καὶ πικρὰν ἀπολείπεσϑαι τοῦ λεπτοῦ καὶ 
ποτίμου ὑπὸ τῆς ϑέρμης ἀναλωϑέντος. 

5 Diogenes Lertius, VII., Zeno. (145). γεωδεστέραν δὲ τὴν σελήνην ἅτε 
καὶ προσγειοτέραν οὖσαν τρέφεσθϑαι δὲ τὰ ἔμπυρα ταῦτα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἄστρα, 
τὸν μὲν ἥλιον ἐκ τῆς μεγάλης ϑαλάττης νοερὸν ὄντα ἄναμμα. 

827, (. ᾿Επειδὴ ἀναγκαία τῷ παντὶ τοῦ πυρὸς H οὐσία. 

73, A. Διὰ τοῦτο οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰς ὑλικὰς ὑποϑέσεις κατέφυγον, τοῖς τοῦ 
χόσμου στοιχείοις τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ παντὸς ἀναϑέντες. 

846, (. ᾿Ονομαζέσϑωσαν λουτὸν μετὰ Στωικῶν καὶ ᾿Επικουρείων οἱ 
διαψηφισταὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας. 

9Letter 236. τοῖς δὲ κομψοῖς ᾿Εγκρατίταις πρὸς τὸ σεμνὸν αὐτῶν 
πρόβλημα διὰ τὶ καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐχὶ πάντα ἐσϑίομεν. 


11 


ing to Maximus, another philosopher, ““What you mentioned of the 
writings of Dionysius reached us and, indeed, they were very 
many.’’?° This man was an Alexandrian, a scholar, a philosopher, 


a man of letters, and his books would naturally have an interest 
for Basil. 


Diogenes Laertius appears in a secondary sense in some of 
Basil’s allusions. His lives of the Philosophers gave him, of 
course, wide reputation, and in the case of many very old sys- 
tems and men his word was, even in Basil’s day, practically the 
only authority. His presentation is faulty and imperfect, but 
such as it is, his record is valuable. Basil does not name him at 
all, but tells incidents that Diogenes has recorded, offering a fair 
ground for comparison. The references are well scattered. There 
is one in a letter, two in the speech To the Youths, and four in 
three different homilies of the Hexaemeron. 


The remark in the letter is to the story of Cleanthes, who was 
very poor and got the money to support himself and pay for edu- 
cation by working at night at a public well, drawing water. Basil 
refers to himself as a “Great admirer of Cleanthes, who drew 
water from a well for pay, whence he supported himself and paid 
his teachers.”1!_ Cleanthes was called the ‘“Water-Drawer.” 
Diogenes says that Cleanthes ‘““Was poor and very anxious to get 
some money. He pumped water by night in the gardens and by 
day busied himself with his studies, hence he was called the 
Water-Drawer.’’” 


Both of the references in the speech To the Youths deal with 
the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Basil says, “Is not rather the 
word of Pittacus true, who said, ‘It is difficult to be good’ ?’’** The 
life of Pittacus was a theme for much legend. Diogenes says 
that the following saying (of Pittacus) has been handed down, 
“Tt is difficult to be good.”1* The same remark is celebrated by 
Simonides, with whom, as already seen, Basil is acquainted. 
“Truly it is difficult for a man to be good,’ writes Simonides, 


10 Letter 9. “A δὲ ἐπιζητεῖς τῶν Διονυσίου ἦλϑε μὲν εἰς ἡμᾶς καὶ πάνυ 
πολλά. 

111 εἰἴεγ 4. νῦν δὲ τὸν Κλεάνϑην μισϑῷ ὕδωρ τοῦ φδέατος ἀπαντλοῦντα 
ὅϑεν αὐτός τε διέζη, καὶ τοῖς διδασκάλοις μισϑοὺς ὑπετέλει. 

12 Diogenes Lertius, VII., Cleanthes. ὅς γε πένης ὧν ἄγαν ὥρμησε 
μισϑοφορεῖν. Καὶ νύχτωρ μὲν ἐν τοῖς κήποις ἤντλει ped’ ἡμέραν δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς 
λόγοις ἐγυμνάζετο. ὅϑεν καὶ Φρεάντλης ἐκλήϑη. 

18 181, C. ᾿Αλλὰ μὴ ἀληϑὴς μᾶλλον ὁ τοῦ Πιττακοῦ λόγος, ὃς χαλεπὸν 
ἔφησεν ἐσϑλὸν ἔμμεναι; 

14 Diogenes Lertius, I., Pittacus. Εἶπέ τε, χαλεπὸν ἐσθλὸν ἔμμεναι. 


72 


naming Pittacus in connection with the idea, further in the poem.*® 


The other reference to a Wise Man is to Bias: “Bias, when 
going with his son to Egypt, said to him as he inquired what course 
of action he could please his father with, ‘Prepare an allowance 
for your old age.’ ’’*® 


The remark attributed to Bias by Diogenes reads, “From youth 
cultivate wisdom as a resource for old age. For this is surer than 
your other possessions.’*’ Basil had been arguing on the value 
of an education. 


In homily three of the Hexaemeron he leads up to a view 
perhaps attributable to the philosopher Democritus: “For there 
are some among them (the pagan philosophers) who say that 
infinite heavens and worlds exist.”**. This view may be referred 
likewise to Anaximander. Diogenes Laertius gives it as one of 
the opinions of Democritus: “The world is boundless, but it had 
an origin and is destructible.”** But Anaximander stated outright 
that “The Beginning and Principle (of all things) is the Infinite.’’*° 
So that the exact origin of the idea is in some doubt and, like many 
other early speculations, had probably been long used before being 
assigned to one man or a few. 


A fragment of verse attributed to Solon has already been seen. 
In addition one other and very vague possible reference appears 
in the Hexaemeron. Basil has compared the weakness of the 
pagan | philosophical and scientific systems to a spider’s web, which 
holds s only the weak, “But when one of the stronger animals ap- 
proaches it, it pushes through easily, dragging the thin substance 
with it.’’*? Solon’s idea is parallel: ‘““‘He said that the word was 
the image of the deed. That the king was strongest by reason of 
his might, but the laws are like spiders’ webs, for they, if any- 


15 Cf, Simonides, Anthologia Lyrica, fr. 3 (12). 

16784, B. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Bias τῷ visti πρὸς Αἰγυπτίους ἀπαίροντι καὶ 
πυνϑανομένῳ τι ἂν ποιῶν αὐτῷ μάλιστα κεχαρισμένα πράττοι. ᾿Εφόδιον, ἔφη, 
πρὸς γῆρας κτησάμενος. , 

17 Diogenes Lertius, I., Bias (88). ἐφόδιον ἀπὸ νεότητος εἰς γῆρας 
ἀναλάμβανε σοφίαν. βεβαιότερον γὰρ τοῦτο τῶν ἄλλων κτημάτων. 

18 24, A. Εἰσὶ γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς οἱ ἀπείρους οὐρανοὺς καὶ κόσμους εἶναι φασίν. 

19 Diogenes Lertius, [X., 7, Democritus (44). ἀπείρους τ᾽ εἷναι κόσμους 
καὶ γενητοὺς καὶ φϑαρτούς. 

20 Diogenes Lertius, II., 1, Anaximander. οὗτος ἔφασκεν ἀρχὴν καὶ 
στοιχεῖον τὸ ἄπειρον. 

2166, Β. ἐπειδὰν δὲ τῶν ἰσχυροτέρων τι ζώων ἐγγίσῃ αὐτό τε ῥαδίως 
διεκπίπτει καὶ τὰ ἀδρανῆ ὑφάσματα διέρρηξε καὶ ἠφάνισε- 


73 


thing light or weak falls in, stop it, but if anything strong, cutting 
through, it is gone.’”?? 

In the eighth homily of the Hexaemeron, where he makes a 
final attack upon the pagan philosophers, Basil says, “Beware of 
those arrogant philosophers who are not ashamed to say that 
their souls resemble those of dogs, or believe that they were 
formerly ‘women, or shrubs, or fish.”?% This statement, if 
Diogenes gives a correct account of Empedocles, is a direct attack 
upon that philosopher: “He taught that the soul put on the various 
forms of living and growing things.’’** Diogenes also credits 
Empedocles with the following statement, which, if true, explains 
Basil’s remark very well: “Once, formerly I was a boy, then a 
girl, then a shrub, then a solitary bird, and a fish from the sea, a 
burnt offering.’’*’ The ideas about the transmigration of souls 
were very ancient. There is no absolute certainty that Empedocles 
was the man Basil had in mind, if indeed the saint were recalling 
a man and not a system. 

_ Before Plato it might be well to trace out those authors of 
scientific work whose traces are found in Basil’s writings. Strabo 
is the only one that can be referred to with any degree of proba- 
bility. There are many ways in which a knowledge of geography 
could have been acquired besides by reading Strabo, and that 
Basil and Strabo use the same expressions proves nothing very 
definite. Basil says, for example, that “Some think the Hyrcanian 
and Caspian seas are enclosed in their own boundaries’”** (mean- 
ing that they have no outlets), and the idea is possibly an echo of 
Strabo’s statement that “From the Caspian sea the second sea 
takes its rise, into which the former empties. And this is called 
the ‘Hyrcanian sea’... . Its a sea ‘apart from ‘the ocean.’ 

22 Diogenes Lertius, I., 2, Solon (58). ἔλεγε δὲ τὸν μὲν λόγον εἴδωλον 
εἶναι τῶν ἔργων. βασιλέα δὲ τὸν ἰσχυρότατον τῇ δυνάμει. Τοὺς δὲ νόμους 
τοῖς ἀραχνίοις ὁμοίους ἐὰν μὲν ἐμπέσῃ τι κοῦφον καὶ ἀσϑενὲς στέγειν’ ἐὰν 
δὲ μεῖζον Staxdwav οἴχεσϑαι. 

28 γι, Β. Φεῦγε φληνάφους τῶν σοβαρῶν φιλοσόφων, οἵ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται 
τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχάς, καὶ τὰς κυνείας ὁμοειδεῖς ἀλλήλαις τιϑέμενοι. οἱ λέγοντες 
ἑαυτοὺς γεγενῆσϑαί ποτε, καὶ γυναῖκας, καὶ ϑάμνους, καὶ ἰχϑύας ϑαλασσίους. 

24 Diogenes Lertius, VIII., 2, Empedocles (77). Καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν παντοῖα 
εἴδη E@wv καὶ φυτῶν ἐνδύεσϑαι. tl 

25 Diogenes Lertius, VIII., 2, Empedocles (77). Ἤδη γάρ ποτ᾽ ἐγὼ 
γενόμην “OVOdS τε κόρη τε ϑάμνος τ᾽ οἰωνός τε καὶ ἐξ ἁλὸς ἔμπυρος ἰχϑύς. 

2636, A. Εἰ zai τὴν “Ὑρκανίαν οἵονταί τινες καὶ τὴν Κασπίαν περιγε- 
γράφϑαι καϑ’ ἑαυτάς. , 

27 Strabo, 507, C. Ἢ δὲ δευτέρα μερὶς ἄρχεται μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς Κασπίας 
ϑαλάττης εἰς ἣν κατέπαυεν ἡ προτέρα. καλεῖται δ᾽ ἡ αὐτὴ ϑάλαττα καὶ 
Ὑρκανία... ἔστι 8’ ὁ κόλπος ἀνέχων ἐκ τοῦ ὠκεανοῦ. .. 


74 


Strabo refers to an “inflow” with regard to this sea, but mentions 
no outlet. Even in the time of Herodotus the Greeks had collectede 
much stray information about the country. 

In a succeeding book of the Hexaemeron Basil uses an expres- 
sion that Strabo employs. Speaking of different kinds of sea fish, 
Basil says, ‘““Some are known to fishers of the Indian Ocean, others 
to Mauretanians.’’** In Strabo the word Maurusia or the Mau- 
rusians is used to signify Mauretania or the Mauretanians, Strabo 
mentioning these fishers who “With these boats sail as far as the 
river Lixus on fishing trips around Maurusia.’’?* 


2y2 toto. 

Basil’s studies in Plato cannot well be gauged by the way in 
which he names or instances the pagan writer, and yet it is inter- 
esting to note that he refers to Plato by name oftener than to any 
other Greek writer. He names Plato seven times and Aristotle 
but three. The number of passages that can be traced out in Basil 
as showing a dim connection are legion. This similarity shows 
itself in many fields besides that of literature itself. Naming an 
author, or a direct quotation, or a passage with obvious resem- 
blances, can be recognized as a literary effort on the part of the 
man who produces them, for such citations generally have a direct 
literary purpose. But the fainter resemblances that are scattered 
throughout are more difficult to classify. In all such cases memory 
has undoubtedly been affected by past reading, but to say that 
such reminiscent passages, vague and half formed and totally 
beyond the grasp of an audience, unless one extraordinarily well 
read and informed and acute, are employed for literary effect, is 
passing beyond the bounds of legitimate direct effect. This is 
entering a department of thought which is individual, but affected 
by other men’s ideas in the general way that every one’s ideas are 
affected by the thoughts and opinions of those around him. Such 
sections of text are a legitimate field for speculation, but to judge 
that a close connection follows is making too little allowance for 
the effort of the writer in question. It must be remembered that 
Basil was himself something of a genius and had solved many 
philosophical problems. 

Like any other sophistic speaker, he had the end in view all 

2864, B. “AdAa γνωρίζουσιν οἱ τὴν ᾿Ινδικὴν ἁλιεύοντες ϑάλασσαν. .. 
καὶ ἄλλα Μαυρούσιοι. 


29 Strabo, C., 99. Τούτοις δὲ πλεῖν μέχρι τοῦ Λίξου ποταμοῦ περὶ τὴν 
Μαυρουσίαν ἁλιευομένους. 


75 


the time. An impression was a great thing. He stood for the 
truth, but the truth had to be presented so as to suit his Asiatic 
audience, and the use of a famous name or of a striking story was 
a great stroke of oratory and well applauded among his eastern 
hearers. They liked that style of address. 

Those references that occur in the Hexaemeron are generally 
of an uncertain nature. In this work Basil was reinforcing his 
sermons with a wealth of ideas partly his own, partly taken from 
all sorts of writers. About natural history he shows a vast series 
of notions, often incorrect, which may have been borrowed from 
Aristotle or Aelian. Similarly, other views that he advances may 
be cited from other authors. Yet topics of natural history would 
have been within the reach of anyone, and could hardly be as- 
signed definitely to any one man. Some of these ideas are also 
partly theological or philosophical, and it is difficult to distinguish 
whether the trend of thought which led to their introduction and 
which influenced their quality and position in the discourse was 
more philosophical or more the hope of driving home an argument 
by the aid of a great philosopher’s thoughts and reputation. 


In the De Misericordia et Judicio Basil shows but one very 
noticeable instance, the use of an expression which Plato employs 
many times in a sense analogous to that which Basil evidences: 
“Pity him whom you have unjustly treated, and dispose yourself 
toward him with brotherly love.”°° Plato has the same use of the 
expression “to dispose” in many sections. For instance, “He dis- 
posed them for the strengthening of the state.”’*! A mental attitude 
is signified. 

In the speech To the Youths there are three cases that are 
pretty certainly developed from Plato, and three more in which 
the philosopher is named outright. Some of Basil’s references 
are, of course, extremely condensed. For example, he says, in 
referring to the pagan poets and their writings, “We shall strongly 
approve those passages in which they praise virtue, or condemn 
vice.”*?. This statement comes at the end of a section in which he 
assails the poets for their frequent representations of vicious con- 


30 De Misericordia et Judicio, 702, B. ’Exeivov ἐλέησαν ὃν ἀδικεῖς. Εἰς 
τοῦτον καταχρῆσαι τῇ φιλανϑρωπίᾳ. 

31 Republic, 520, A. ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα καταχρῆται αὐτὸς αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τὸν σύνδεσμον 
τῆς πόλεως. 

32176, C. ᾿Δλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνα αὐτῶν μᾶλλον ἀποδεξόμεϑα, ἐν οἷς ἀρετὴν 
ἐπῃνεσαν ἢ πονηρίαν διέβαλον. 


76 


duct in men and gods. Ina very concise form it is the summary 
of long arguments by Plato in the Republic.** 


Basil once uses an aphorism partly reproduced from Plato: 
“That which is seen is not the man.”’** It would be stretching the 
meager thread of evidence far to say that the expression 15 
Platonic, but it is paralleled in the pseudo Axiochus. After the 
flight of the soul “The body remaining, which is earthy and irra- 
tional, is not the man.”*® 


Attacking deceitful appearances, Basil says, “If any belief 1s 
to be had in Plato, it is the last extreme of injustice for one to pose 
as good who is not.”** Basil handles the idea well, for his state- 
ment is almost a replica of Plato’s: “The worst injustice is to 
seem just when one is not.’’*? Again in a succeeding passage Basil 
calls Plato by name and makes a significant mention of St. Paul: 
“One should indulge his desires, as Plato says, to that extent by 
which right living is served, or as Paul says, somewhere in a 
similar passage, ‘Make no provision for the lusts of the flesh.’ ’”’** 


This is an excellent instance of the connections so called that 
sometimes appear in source studies. This idea is in the very basis 
of Christian doctrine, and set down by St. Paul. Here it is very 
well paralleled in Plato. But it would be ridiculous to say that 
Plato’s view affected St. Paul’s. Cases of so-called influence are 
frequently built up, though on no more evidence. Further in the 
same chapter Basil again names the philosopher, and urging 
restraint instead of too much attention to bodily comfort, rein- 
forces his argument with an appropriate story: “Therefore, they 
say that Plato, looking forward to the harm that might come from 
undue attention to the body, selected with malice aforethought as 
his Academy the unhealthy part of Attica, so that he might cut 


83 Cf. Republic, 377, 378, 379, 380, 381, 382, 383. 

84181, C. ὅτι od τὸ ὁρώμενον ἔστιν ὁ ἄνϑρωπος. 

85 Axiochus, 365, E. τὸ ὑπολειφϑὲν σῶμα γεῶδες ὃν καὶ ἄλογον οὐκ 
ἔστιν ὃ ἄνϑρωπος. 

36178, A. ᾿Αλλ’ οὗτός ἐστιν 6 ἔσχατος τῆς ἀδικίας ὅρος εἴ τι δεῖ 
Πλάτωνι πείϑεσϑαι τὸ δοκεῖν δίκαιον εἶναι μὴ ὄντα. 

37 Republic, 361, A. ἐσχάτη γὰρ ἀδικία δοκεῖν δίκαιον εἶναν μὴ ὄντα. 


38 182, Β. ὅσον φησὶ, Πλάτων ὑπηρεσίαν φιλοσοφίᾳ χτωμένου ἐοικότα 
που λέγων τῷ Παύλῳ ὃς παραινεῖ μηδεμίαν χρῆναι τοῦ σώματος πρόνοιαν 
ἔχειν εἰς ἐπιϑυμιῶν ἀφορμήν. 

Cf. Plato, Republic, ΠΠ., 411. Throughout this and succeeding chap- 
ters Plato argues for temperance in athletics and education by which an 
even mean between physical and mental powers can be reached and the 
best sort of education result. Cf. St. Paul, To the Romans, XIII., 14. 


77 


away undue comforts of the body, as one cuts away excessive 
development of the vines.”’*® 

In the letters Basil introduces three instances from Plato, all 
of which are brought in neatly for rounding out the general idea, 
and are very effective. It is worth noticing, too, that a student of 
Basil must beware of forming opinions of the saint’s writings, 
based upon the letters. For Basil was not professedly literary in 
his works, and many of his productions are severely doctrinal. 
But the one field in which he did permit himself some relaxation 
was his correspondence. Letters addressed to literary and political 
great men show a style that seldom, if ever, appears in his other 
productions. 

A letter to Candidianus, who was the governor of Cappadocia 
and a man of consideration, contains various allusions for a well- 
read man, and among them one to Plato: “As Plato says, in the 
storm and turmoil of business, you stand aside as if under some 
strong wall, letting none of this confusion affect your soul . . .”’*° 
Suggesting a resemblance between the affairs of this man and of 
Plato was something of a compliment, too. The idea is much the 
same with the philosopher. He compares the man who pursues 
philosophic tranquillity and thought to “One who, in a storm of 
dust and snow, driven by a rushing wind, retreats under the shelter 
of a wall.” 

In a letter to Diodorus, Plato comes to the front as a graceful 
writer, and some other philosophers are compared with him not 
at all to their advantage. The letter itself is a discussion of the 
style of some books sent to Basil, and literary views come out nat- 
urally in such a composition: “Your good taste has perceived that 
those pagan philosophers who wrote dialogues, Aristotle and 
Theophrastus, went straight at the matter, knowing that they were 
not gifted with the graceful style of Plato. Plato, in contradis- 
tinction with his vigor of style, assails such and such opinions, 

39 182, C. Διὸ δὴ καὶ Πλάτωνα φασὶ τὴν ἐκ σώματος βλάβην προϊδόμενον 
τὸ νοσῶδες χωρίον τῆς ᾿Αττικῆς τὴν ᾿Ακαδημίαν καταλαβεῖν ἐξεπίτηδες, 
ἵνα τὴν ἄγαν εὐπάϑειαν τοῦ σώματος οἷον ἀμπέλου τὴν εἰς τὰ περιττὰ φορὰν 
περικόπτοι. 

It does not appear where Basil heard this story. In the neighborhood 
of Athens a great mass of legend grew up around Plato and such stories 
were on the order of the Platonic and Socratic teachings of self restraint 
and voluntary deprivations of comfort. 

40 Letter 3. ἀλλὰ τὸ tov Πλάτωνος ἐν χειμῶνι καὶ ζάλῃ πραγμάτων οἷον 
ὑπὸ τείχει τινὶ καρτερῷ ἀποστὰς, οὐδενὸς ϑορύβου τὴν ψυχὴν ἀναπίμπλασαι. 


41 Republic, 496, D. οἷον ἐν χειμῶνι κονιορτοῦ καὶ ξάλης ὑπὸ πνεύματος 
φερομένου ὑπὸ τειχίον ἀποστάς. 


78 


ridiculing the people in question, now rebuking the rashness and 
forwardness of Thrasymachus, now the light mindedness and 
ignorance of Hippias, and now the arrogance and pretensions of 
Protagoras. When he brings into his dialogue persons not intro- 
duced he uses the questioners to make a point clear, but brings into 
the dialogue nothing else about these persons. There is evidence 
of this in the Laws.’’*? The first book of the Laws offers a fair 
example of the introduction of characters to clarify a dialogue. 
An Athenian stranger talks to a Cretan Cleinas and at odd inter- 
vals a Spartan Megillus throws in explanatory remarks or ques- 
tions designed further to bring out the truth. Megillus is in every 
sense a secondary character, whose statements are of the briefest 
sort, befitting his Spartan nature, it is true, but very curt and 
blunt nevertheless. The philosophers mentioned by Basil were 
all ridiculed by Plato in different works. He introduces Thrasy- 
machus into the Republic, and throughout the first book has him 
worsted in a debate with Socrates. Huippias and Protagoras ap- 
pear as the sophistic opponents of Socrates in the Protagoras, and 
at the end are seen refuted. 

In a letter to Libanius, Basil brings in a reference to Plato. He 
says of Libanius in the letter, “This γριπίζειν is said to mean “‘to 
gain,” and has this signification which your sophistic ingenuity has 
drawn from the depths of Plato.’’** ypurifew is a rare word, signi- 
fying “to fish,” and the use of it here is figurative. 

In none of the references in the Hexaemeron is the philosopher 
named outright. They are much scattered, showing that connec- 
tions with Plato are well divided among Basil’s different views. 
In the opening homily Basil states briefly a thought that Plato 
puts forth at great length in the Timaeus. Talking about the 
wordy arguments of philosophers upon the nature of the heavens, 
Basil says, “Some of them say that the heavens are composed of 

42 Letter 135. ’Exeivo γὰρ πάντως ovveide σοῦ ἢ ἁρχίνοια ὅτι καὶ τῶν 
ἔξωϑεν φιλοσόφων οἱ τοὺς διαλόγους συγγράψαντες ᾿Αριστοτέλης καὶ 
Θεόφραστος, εὐθὺς αὐτῶν ἥψαντο τῶν χαρίτων τὴν ἔνδειαν. Πλάτων δὲ τῇ 
ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ λόγου ὁμοῦ μὲν τοῖς δόγμασι, μάχεται ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ παρακωμωδεῖ 
τὰ πρόσωπα, Θρασυμάχου μὲν τὸ ϑρασὺ καὶ ἱταμὸν διαβάλλων, ἹἹππίου δὲ τὸ 
χοῦφον τῆς διανοίας καὶ χαῦνον, καὶ Πρωταγόρου τὸ ἀλαζονικὸν καὶ 
ὑπέρογκον. ὅπου δὲ ἀόριστα πρόσωπα ἐπεισάγει τοῖς διαλόγοις τῆς μὲν 
εὐκρινείας ἕνεκεν τῶν πραγμάτων κέχρηται τοῖς προσδιαλεγομένοις οὐδὲν δὲ 
ἕτερον ἐκ τῶν προσώπων ἐπεισχυχλεῖ ταῖς ὑποϑέσεσιν ὅπερ ἐποίησεν ἐν τοῖς 
Νόμοις. 

43 Letter 348. Εἰ τὸ κερδαίνειν τοῦτο γρυτίζειν λέγεται καὶ τάυτην ἔχει 


τὴν σημασίαν ἡ λέξις, ἣν ἐκ τῶν Πλάτωνος ἀδύτων h σοφιστική σου ἡμῖν 
προεχειρίσατο. 


79 


four elements, being tangible and visible, earth for its solidity, fire 
because it is perceptible, and for the rest air and water because of 
the mixture.’’** These theories are discussed through the seventh 
book of the Timaeus. As in the case of many of these repetitions 
of ideas, Basil expresses briefly what the pagan philosopher took 
a great deal of space to set forth and elucidate. In the second 
homily Basil states in a sentence a series of half paradoxical ideas 
that Plato dwells upon prosily in the Phaedo. Plato begins, “And 
some one of those present, hearing this, said—whoever he was, I 
do not recall clearly—‘By the gods, did we not agree before in our 
debates on the very opposite of the things now said, that the 
greater is generated from the less and the less from the greater, 
and in the case of opposites that this absolutely was their origin, 
from opposites.’ ”*® Plato goes on to talk about opposites and 
incorrect notions concerning them, wandering through a multitude 
of other ideas. Perhaps with the same thought in mind, Basil 
says, “Life does not engender death, darkness is not the origin of 
light, sickness is not the maker of health.’*® He had been arguing 
that evil could not come from God, but that like comes from like, 
and good from good, an idea that Plato clears up after considera- 
ble wandering. 


In the third homily he returns to Platonic similarities. Writing 
about the philosophers, he says that “Indeed, they state as a prin- 
ciple that there is only one heaven.’”*’ The theory of Plato is 
worded clearly: “Then can we rightly affirm that heaven is one, 
or would it be more correct to speak of numerous and boundless 
heavens? One it must be, if it is created according to design.”** 


Again Basil says of the motion of the spheres and of the stars 
that “These circles, as they (the philosophers) say, being carried 
in an opposite direction to the motion of the world, and striking 


4419, Β. καὶ ot μὲν σύνϑετον αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων εἰρή- 
κασιν ὡς ἁπτὸν ὄντα καὶ ὁρατὸν καὶ μετέχοντα γῆς μὲν διὰ τὴν ἀντιτυπίαν, 
πυρὸς δὲ διὰ τὸ καϑορᾶσϑαι, τῶν δε λοιπῶν διὰ τὴν μίξιν. 

45 Phedo, 103. Καί τις εἶπε τῶν παρόντων ἀχούσας---ὅστις δ᾽ ἦν οὐ 
σαφῶς μέμνημαν-- Πρὸς ϑεῶν οὐκ ἐν τοῖς πρόσϑεν ἡμῖν λόγοις αὐτὸ τὸ 
ἐναντίον τῶν νυνὶ λεγομένων ὡμολογεῖτο ἐκ τοῦ ἐλάττονος τὸ μεῖζον 
γίγνεσϑαι καὶ ἐκ τοῦ μείζονος τὸ ἔλαττον καὶ ἀτέχνως αὕτη εἶναι ἣ γένεσις 
τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων; 

46 τό, C. οὔτε γὰρ ἡ ζωὴ ϑάνατον γεννᾷ οὔτε τὸ σκότος φωτός ἐστιν ἀρχὴ 
οὔτε ἡ νόσος ὑγιείας δημιουργός. 

4723, D. Ἕνα γὰρ ὑποτίϑενται οὐρανόν. 

48 Timzus, 31, A. πότερον οὖν ὀρϑῶς ἕνα οὐρανὸν προσειρήκαμεν ἢ 
πολλοὺς καὶ ἀπείρους λέγειν ἦν ὀρϑότερον; ἕνα εἴπερ κατὰ τὸ παράδειγμα 


δεδημιουργημένος ἔσται. 


80 


the aether, make a sweet and harmonious melody not to be equaled 
by the finest music.’’*® There is no doubt that this is from Plato. 
The idea of the music of the spheres is very old.*° 


In the fourth homily is an idea, also extremely condensed, 
which Plato gives at length. Speaking of musicians, whom he 
condemns, Basil says, “The notes of harpers and flute players are 
filled with sensuality.’*? Plato would have all these piping 
musicians banished from his ideal state: “What then? Would you 
admit flute players and flute makers into the state? . . . Certainly 
not, said he.”°? Most of these finely wrought forms of melody 
were connected in one way or another with the dissipations of the 
times, and both Plato and Basil recognized a danger that accom- 
panied them. Basil’s remark would be obvious to any one who 
had acquaintance with Plato and his theories upon government. 


In the sixth homily the saint makes use of an expression prac- 
tically proverbial, but well used by Plato. He mentions those 
“ “Who overstep the bounds,’ making scripture their argument for 
astrological forecasts of birth.’’°* The first part of the expression 
is repeated in Plato: “I seem to be making longer question than is 
fitting and to be stepping over the bounds.’** Basil endeavors to 
impress his hearers with the relativity of sizes: “If you have ever 
viewed a great flat plain from the peak of a lofty mountain, how 
large did the team of oxen look to you? And how large did the 
farmers look? Did they not resemble ants?’°> Plato in the 
Phaedo makes use of a similar idea. He speaks of the different 
parts of the world and argues that they are not so large as the 
parts then unknown to the Greeks. ‘‘Moreover, then,” said he, 
“the earth is very large, and we who inhabit the part from the 
river Phasis up to the Pillars of Heracles are living in a small part 

49 24, C. τούτους δὲ τὴν ἐναντίαν τῷ παντὶ φερομένους περισχιζομένου 
τοῦ αἱ ϑέρος αὐτοῖς εὔηχόν τινα καὶ ἐναρμόνιον ἀποδιδόναι φϑόγγον ὥστε 
πᾶσαν τὴν ἔν μελωδίαις ἡδονὴν ὑπερβάλλειν. 

50 Cf. Republic, 617, 618, for a detailed account of how this music is 
produced and the motion of the spheres. 

5133, A. ta τῶν κιϑαριστῶν ἢ τὰ TOV αὐλητῶν κρούματα μιμουμένους. 

52 Republic, 399, D. τί δέ; αὐλοποιοὺς ἢ αὐλητὰς παραδέξῃ εἰς τὴν 
moAw; ς.. .««Αηλα- δῇ, ἢ 8’ Sc. 

ὅ8 54, A. "AAW οἱ ὑπὲρ τὰ ἐσκαμμένα πηδῶντες ἐπὶ τὴν συνηγορίαν τῆς 
γενεϑλιαλογίας τὸν λόγον ἕλκουσι. 

54 Cratylus, 413, A. δοκῶ te ἤδη μακρότερα τοῦ προσήχοντος ἐρωτᾷν 
χαὶ ὑπὲρ τὰ ἐσκαμμένα ἅλλεσθϑαι. 

ὅδ 59, C. Εἴ ποτε ἀπὸ ἀκρωρείας μεγάλης πεδίον εἶδες πολύ τε καὶ ὕπτιον, 
ἡλίκα μέν σοῖ τῶν βοῶν κατεφάνη τὰ ζεύγη; πηλίκοι δὲ οἱ ἀροτῆρες αὐτοί; 
Εἰ μὴ μυρμήκων τινὰ σοὶ παρέσχον φαντασίαν; 


81 


around the sea, like frogs or ants around a pond, and elsewhere 
many other nations live in similar places.’”°* The Liber de Spiritu 
Sancto is of a very technical nature, and the instances that occur 
here are not at all certainly of a literary nature. Basil remarks 
in one place upon the balance of the earth and its poise among 
the heavens in terms like these: “He it is Who holds the earth, 
surrounding it with His grasp, Who has arranged everything in 
order and adorned it, Who gave the mountains their poise and 
divided the waters.’’* 


The ideas about the divisions of the water and the poise of the 
hills are probably scriptural. Plato argues, “Well, then, first of 
all, I am persuaded, said he, that the earth is a round body in the 
center of the heavens, and that it has no need of air or any other 
such force to support it, but the equilibrium of the heavens is suf- 
ficient to keep it there, and then, too, there is the equipoise of the 
earth itself. For anything that is in an equipoise, being in the mid- 
dle, will not incline in any way—will remain the same, without 
deviation.”** 


Later Basil makes use of an expression well used in the 
Platonic vocabulary: “The ‘of which’ does not always indicate 
the material as it seems to them (the pagan philosophers ).’®® 


It is certain that besides these scattered and more obvious 
ideas that are partly taken from Plato and sometimes expressed 
in words borrowed or derived from him, many other passages 
contain notes that have a striking resemblance. A difficulty is to 
decide where the relationship of any particular section ceases to 
be a philosophical influence and begins to be a literary use. Since 
Basil shows little evidence of being engaged in producing litera- 
ture with a literary taste or development and no more, while he 15 
deeply interested in the thoughtful side, it is difficult to say how 


56 Phedo, 109, B. Ἔτι τοίνυν ἕφη παμμεγά τι εἶναι αὐτὸ καὶ ἡμᾶς 
οἰκεῖν τοὺς μέχρι Ἡρακλείων στηλῶν ἀπὸ Φάσιδος ἐν σμικρῷ τινι μορίῳ 
ὥσπερ περὶ τέλμα μύρμηκας ἢ βατράχους περὶ τὴν ϑάλατταν οἰκοῦντας καὶ 
ἄλλους ἄλλοϑι πολλοὺς ἐν πολλοῖσι τοιοῦτοις τόποις οἰκεῖν. 

57 Liber de Spiritu Sancto, 7, C. ! Οὗτος ἐστὶν ὁ συνέχων τὴν γῆν καὶ 
περιδεδραμένος αὐτῆς. ὁ δὲ εἰς τάξιν πάντα καὶ διακόσμησιν ἀγαγών. ὁ καὶ 
ὄρεσιν ἰσορροπίαν καὶ ὕδατι μέτρα. 

58 Phedo, 109, A. Πέπεισμαι τοίνυν ἦ δ᾽ ὃς ἐγὼ ὡς πρῶτον μὲν εἰ ἔστιν ἐν 
μέσῳ τῷ οὐρανῷ περιφερὴς οὐσα μηδὲν αὐτῇ δεῖν μήτε ἀέρος πρὸς τὸ μὴ 
πεσεῖν μήτε ἄλλης ἀνάγχης μηδεμίας τοιαύτης ἀλλὰ ἱκανὴν εἶναι αὐτὴν ἴσχειν 
τὴν ὁμοιότητα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ αὐτοῦ ἑαυτῷ πάντη xal τῆς γῆς αὐτῆς τὴν 
ἰσορροπίαν, ἰσόρροπον γὰρ πρᾶγμα ὁμοίδυ τινὸς ἐν μέσῳ τεϑὲν οὐχ ἕξει 
μᾶλλον οὐδ᾽ ἧττον οὐδαμόσε κλιϑῆναι ὁμοίως δ᾽ ἔχον ἀκλινὲς μενεῖ. 

595 A. οὐ γὰρ πάντως τὸ ἐξ οὗ τὴν ὕλην σημαίνει καϑὼς ἐκείνοις δοκεῖ. 


82 


far literary influences are carried. Past question the general style 
and diction are much affected. A detailed analysis of any large 
section reveals many striking similarities in the trend of thought, 
the manner in which an idea is developed, and finally in the syntax. 

But examining Basil’s use of Plato, as evinced by citing the 
philosopher’s name, the occasional partial quotation, and what was 
as effective, the occasional condensation of well known Platonic 
passages, shows that Basil made a general and open use of Plato 
to a great extent and an undersurface employment that in a hidden 
and half-conscious way enormously surpasses the visible use. 
Basil had sounder and more stable premises from which to reason, 
and the advantage of using the truths of revealed religion as a 
guide. In all these points a vague similarity is bound to exist, 
for they reasoned much alike, and in such thinking is always the 
tendency to use established terms, and for thought to follow well 
defined channels. These facts result in many places in a certain 
sameness of presentation. Keeping these points in mind, the true 
literary influence of Plato upon Basil will perhaps be more clearly 
recognized and better presented for an understanding of the two 
men. 


2) > Aristotle. 


For the purpose of discussing Aristotle’s connection with Basil, 
it will be best first to consider Basil’s references and parallelisms 
with the Greek in connection with other early thinkers. Thus 
many of Aristotle’s own views come out, expressed principally in 
the De Caelo and Meteorologica, with observations upon the 
theories of earlier men who wrote upon the same subjects. Basil 
gives such passages scant notice, yet it is significant that he always 
understands well the meaning of the part referred to, thus giving 
an index to his reading of the whole. Thales, the Muilesian; 
Anaximenes, Anaxagoras, Democritus, and Pythagoras, and 
Xenophanes, of Colophon, are the men brought to light and crit- 
icized. Nine instances belonging to this class occur in the Hexa- 
emeron, and two in the Liber de Spiritu Sancto. Four are in the 
opening homily, and three of these bear upon Aristotle’s De Caelo. 
Basil’s remark has to do with the old theory that the earth floated 
upon a bed of air: “If you say of the earth that it reposes upon a 
bed of air, you raise a difficulty.’’*° Aristotle takes up the idea: 
“For Anaximenes and Anaxagoras and Democritus say that the 


609 B. ’Edv te yao ἀέρα φῇς ὑπερστρῶσϑαι πλάτει τῆς γῆς ἀπορήσεις. 


88 


cause of its remaining as it is, is the breadth, for it does not cut 
through, but floats upon the aether that is beneath 11. These 
speculations of Ionian nature philosophy are all repeated more or 
less throughout early philosophy. Basil notes the theory of 
Thales: “Again, do you suppose that the earth is supported by 
water?’®? But he gives no sign of where he learned it. Aristotle 
gives it, in speaking of different theories, and mentions the one 
“Which Thales, the Milesian, held, that the earth remained in 
space like a log floating, or some such thing, but it is no wise in 
the nature of these things to float upon air, but upon water.’’® 

Another idea from the De Caelo is paralleled when Basil says, 
in speaking of the immobility of the earth, that “By all necessity 
it is obliged to remain in its place, unless a movement contrary to 
nature should displace it.’’** Aristotle develops the idea in treat- 
ing of the way bodies in motion sink toward a common center, 
where they remain as long as the conditions stay the same: “And 
moreover, the motion of the parts and of the whole body itself, 
according to nature, is toward the center of the whole.’’® 

The last instance of Aristotelian usage in the Hexaemeron is 
a remark about philosophers who tried to get beyond the four 
elements earth, air, fire and water. After arguing about cer- 
tain hypotheses concerning them, Basil says, “It is because of the 
force of these reasons, say the inventors of the fifth kind of body 
for the genesis of heaven and the stars, that they are constrained 
to reject the system of their predecessors and have recourse to 
their own hypothesis.’’®* Aristotle recognizes another vague and 
altogether unfathomable element, but he thinks that it is part of 
the composition of the soul, and hardly seems to use the notion 

81 De Celo, II., 13, 16. ᾿Αναξιμένης δὲ καὶ ᾿Αναξαγόρας καὶ Δημόκριτος 


τὸ πλάτος αἴτιον εἶναί φασι τοῦ μένειν αὐτὴν. ov γὰρ τέμνειν ἀλλ᾽ 
ἐπιπωματίζειν τὸν ἀέρα τὸν κάτωϑεν. 

629 Β. Πάλιν ἐὰν ὑποϑῇς ἑαυτῷ ὕδωρ εἶναι τὸ ὑποβεβλημένον, τῇ 
vn . . . 
63 De Celo, II., 13, 13. ὅν φασιν εἰπεῖν Θαλῆν τὸν Μιλήσιον ὡς διὰ τὸ 
πρωτὴν εἶναι μένουσαν ὥσπερ ξύλον. ἤ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον καὶ γὰρ τούτων 
ἐπ’ ἀέρος μὲν οὐδὲν πέφυκε μένειν ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὕδατος. 

6410, D. Πᾶσα γὰρ ἀνά é TT τὰ χώραν ἢ παρὰ φύσιν 

Say DF γὰρ ἀνάγκη μένειν αὐτὴν κατὰ χώραν ἢ παρὰ | 
, ~ , 5 , 

κυνουμένην τῆς οἰκείας ἕδρας ἐξίστασϑαι. 

65 De Celo, 11., 14, 5. ἔτι δ᾽ ἣ φορὰ τῶν μορίων καὶ ὅλης αὐτῆς ἡ κατὰ 

, A ᾿ς - ΄ > 

φύσιν ἐπὶ τὸ μέσον τοῦ παντός ἐστιν. 

6611, D. Διὰ μὲν δὴ ταύτας ὥς φασι τῶν λογισμῶν τὰς ἀνάγκας τοὺς 
- , ε ’ , 
τῶν προαγόντων ἀϑετήσαντες λόγους οἰκείας ὑποϑέσεως ἐδεήϑησαν οἱ 

A) ~ ~ , , 

πέμπτην σώματος φύσιν εἰς τὴν οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν κατ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀστέρων γένεσιν 
ὑποτιϑέμενοι. 


84 


in the same sense that Basil would appear to give it: “Therefore, 
the power of the whole soul seems to participate in another body, 
more godlike than those things that are called elements. And as 
souls differ among themselves by nobility or ignobility, such dif- 
ference, therefore, is the distinction of the body.”** 


Basil criticized Xenophanes, of Colophon. Speaking of the 
support of the earth, he refers to the idea that it stands upon a 
base : “Even if we are able to imagine that, our reason will demand 
another support, and thus we come to the infinite, always imagining 
a base for the base that is already assumed.”®* 


Aristotle offers a reason of Xenophanes’ theory. He mentions 
philosophers who were “Saying that the earth was rooted down 
to infinity, like Xenophanes, of Colophon, so as not to have the 
problem of looking for a cause.”** Plato mentions the same 
theory, saying, “One man keeps the earth below the heaven 
by setting a vortex around, and another considers the earth a flat 
trough, being supported by a base of air.’”*° 

Basil makes one reference to the Pythagoreans in a sense that 
closely follows Aristotle's views of them: “They (the pagan 
philosophers) call a strong body one which is compact and full.’ 
It appears that ναστόν is taken in the sense of close or firm, as 
Democritus uses it. Democritus opposes it to κένον, empty or void: 
“Aristotle writes in the first book about Philosophy of Pythagoras 
that the heavens are one, and that from infinity sprung time, and 
air, and the void that ever distinguishes the place of each.”” 
Other similarities in this homily bear more upon Meteorology: 


&7 De Gen, Ani, II., 3, 11. Πάσης μὲν οὖν ψυχῆς δύναμις ἑτέρου σώματος 
ἔοιχε κεχοινωνεχέναι καὶ ϑειοτέρου τῶν καλουμένων στοιχείων. ὡς δὲ δια- 
φέρουσι τιμιότητι Gi ψυχαὶ καὶ ἀτιμίᾳ ἀλλήλων, οὕτω καὶ ἣ τοιαύτη διαφέρει 
φύσις. 

69 C. Kav τι δυνηϑῶμεν ἐκείνῳ συμπλάσαντες ὑποϑεῖναι τὸ ἐκείνου 
πάλιν ἀντέρεισμα ὁ VOUS ἡμῶν ἐπιξητήσει, καὶ οὕτως εἰς ἄπειρον ἐχπεσούμεϑα 
τοῖς ἀεὶ εὑρισκομένοις- βάϑροις Etega πάλιν ἐπινοοῦντες. 

690) ε (ξῖο, IL, 13. ἐπ’ ἄπειρον αὐτὴν ἐρριξζῶσϑαι λέγοντες ὥσπερ 
Ξενοφάνης ὃ Κολοφώνιος ἵνα μὴ πράγματ᾽ ἔχωσι ζητοῦντες τὴν αἰτίαν. 

τὸ Phedo, 99, Β. διὸ δὲ καὶ ὁ μέν τις δίνην περιτιϑεὶς τῇ γῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ 
οὐρανοῦ μένειν δὴ ποιεῖ τὴν γῆν. ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ καρδόπῳ πλατείᾳ βάϑρον τὸν 
ἀέρα ὑπερείδει. 

τις D. ot μὲν γὰρ ἔξωϑεν στερεὸν λέγουσι σῶμα τὸ οἷον ναστὸν καὶ 
πλῆρες.. 

72 Aristotle, Fragments, No. 201. ἐν δὲ τῷ περὶ τῆς Πυϑαγόρου φιλοσο- 
φίας πρώτῳ γράφει (Ἀριστοτέλη!) τὸν μὲν οὐρανὸν εἶναι ἕνα, ἐπεισάγεσϑαι 
δ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ ἀπείρου χρόνον τε καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὸ κενὸν καὶ ὃ διορίζει ἑχάστον 
τὰς χώρας ἀεί. 


85 


“By nature the sun is not fiery, and its heat develops, they affirm, 
from the speed of its revolution.’’** 

Aristotle states at more length the same ideas: “So we see that 
motion is able to divide the air, and to ignite it so much that very 
frequently by this motion things appear to be liquefied, and there- 
fore as coolness or heat is thus generated, the rapid motion of the 
sun is alone able to bring this about.”** In the same homily the 
saint gives Aristotle’s ideas of the formation of snow: “Water, 
whipped by the blast of the wind, changes into foam, and passing 
through excessive cold, freezes completely and, breaking from the 
cloud, falls as snow.”"> Basil did not pretend to be a scientist, 
and most of his guesses in this department are taken at second 
hand. Aristotle has it: “It is likewise with frost and snow. For 
when a cloud becomes condensed there is snow, and if vapor there 
is frost.’”"® The final instance in the Hexaemeron occurs in the 
fourth homily. This case is touched by other writers and is difh- 
cult to place with accuracy. Speaking of a projected canal at Suez, 
Basil says, “Thus we have abandoned this undertaking, as also 
did the Egyptian, Sesostris, who conceived the scheme, and Darius, 
the Mede, who later planned to complete it.”"* The idea of putting 
a canal through the isthmus at Suez was an old one and had been 
tried out by different ancients. Aristotle agrees with the Sesostris 
theory: “Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancients to 
put his hand to this, but he found the sea higher than the land 
(and hence desisted for fear of flooding the country). 

Herodotus has a different story, which is the same as regards 
the canal itself, but assigns a different reason for the cessation of 
efforts and gives another monarch credit for the attempt. “Neco,” 
says Herodotus, “was the son of Psammetichus, and became king 

73.29, B. Καίτοι ye οὐδὲ ϑερμὸν εἶναι τὸν ἥλιον ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσι. .. 
ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτου φασὶ τὸ ϑερμὸν- ἐκ τῆς ταχείας εἶναι περιστροφῆς. 

τὰ Meteor, I., 3. 30. ὁρῶμεν δὴ καὶ κίνησιν ὅτι δύναται διαχρίνειν τὸν 
ἀέρα καὶ ἐχποροῦν ὥστε xai τὰ φερόμενα τηκόμενα, φαίνεσθαι πολλάκις. 
τὸ μὲν οὖν γίγνεσϑαι τὴν ἀλέαν καὶ τὴν ϑεριιότητα ἱκανή ἐστι παρασχευάζειν 
χαὶ ἣ τοῦ ἡλίου φορὰ μόνον. : 

75 30, Β. ὅταν δὲ τὸ ὑγρὸν ἐξαφοισϑῇ ταῖς βίαις τῶν ἀνέμων ἀνακοπὲν 
εἶτα εἰς ἄκρον καταψυχϑὲν ὅλον διόλου παγῇ ϑραυομένου τοῦ νέφους ἣ χιὼν 
χαταφέρεται. : 

τὸ Meteor, I., 9-12. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ πάχνη καὶ χιών. ὅταν γὰρ παγῇ τὸ 
νέφος χιών ἐστιν, ὅταν δ᾽ ἡ ἀτμὶς πάχνη. ᾿ 

τῆς (ζ Διόπερ ἐπέσχον τὴν ἐπιχείρησιν ὅ τε πρῶτος ἀρξάμενος 
Σέσωστοις ὁ Αἰγύπτιος καὶ 6 μετὰ ταῦτα βουληϑεὶς ἐπεξεοργάσασϑαι Δαρεῖος 
6 Μῆδος. nee 

78 Meteor, I., 14. λέγεται δὲ πρῶτος Σέσωστοις ἐπιχειρῆσαι τῶν παλαιῶν 

ἀλλ᾽ εὗρεν ὑψηλοτέραν οὖσαν τὴν ϑάλατταν τῆς γῆς. 


86 


of Egypt. He was the first one to attempt the canal leading into the 
Red Sea, which Darius, the Persian, afterward dug . .. Neco 
then ceased in the midst of his digging, because an obstructing 
prophecy had arisen that he was laboring for a barbarian.’’® 


Outside the references already seen are a number of scattered 
ones, not to the philosophers, but to ideas they promulgated, and to 
Aristotle himself. The philosopher is named three times. One of 
these cases has been mentioned under Plato: “Those pagan philos- 
ophers who wrote dialogues, Aristotle and Theophrastus, went 
straight at the matter, knowing that they were not possessed of the 
graceful style of Plato.” Other instances do not introduce com- 
parisons. Two appear in the book against Eunomius. Aristotle’s 
famous reasoning in syllogisms 15 first mentioned when Basil says, 
in general “There was need for us to learn of the syllogisms of 
Aristotle and Chrysippus.”8° The first book of the Analytica 
Priora is given over to a discussion of syllogistic reasoning. The 
other case in which Aristotle is named occurs further in the same 
work: “For there are, concerning habits and privations, the words 
of Aristotle, who says privations come after habits. Those are 
able to testify to this who have read the book inscribed with the 
Categories of Aristotle.’’* 


The work that Basil had in mind is the Categories and section 
from chapter eight to a late part of chapter twelve is taken up with 
a discussion of habits and privations. The ready reference would 
indicate Basil’s familiarity with the book. 


Other notes in Basil’s works are of a more indirect nature. 
One very striking one occurs with reference to the opening section 
of the Nichomachean Fthics. Basil says, “Hence, well have some 
men defined the good, as what all men seek.’’®? The second 
sentence of the Ethics begins, “Therefore, well have they defined 


79 Herodotus, II., 158. Ψαμμητίχου δὲ Νεκῶς παῖς ἐγένετο καὶ 
ἐβασίλευσε Αἰγύπτου, ὃς τῇ διώρυχι ἐπειχείρησε πρῶτος τῇ ἐς τὴν ᾿Ερυϑρῆν 
ϑάλασσαν φερούσῃ, τὴν Δαρείου ὁ Πέρσης δεύτερα διώρυξε. . . Νεκῶς μὲν 
νῦν μεταξὺ ὀρύσσων ἐπαύσατο μαντηίου ἐμποδίου γενομένου τοιοῦδε τῷ 
βαρβάρῳ αὐτὸν προεργάζεσθϑαι. 

80 Liber adversus Eunomius, 214, C. Ἢ τῶν ᾿Αριστοτέλους ὄντως ἡμῖν 
καὶ Χρυσίππου συλλογισμῶν ἔδει πρὸς τὸ μαϑεῖν. 

81221, A. ᾿Αριστοτέλους γὰρ εἰσιν ὡς οἱ ἀνεγνωχότες εἴποιεν ἂν ἐν ταῖς 
ἐπιγραφομέναϊῖς αὐτοῦ Κατηγορίαις. οἱ περὶ ἕξεως καὶ στερήσεως λόγοι 
δευτέρας εἶναι λέγοντος τῶν ἕξεων τὰς στερήσεις. 

82160, A. Διότι καλῶς ὡρίσαντο ἤδη τινὲς ἀγαϑὸν εἶναι οὗ πάντα 
ἐφίεται. 


87 


the good, as that at which all men aim.’’*? Others have had the 
same idea, but the concise wording of the two sentences gives 
them a noticeable resemblance. In the Hexaemeron occurs an 
example in the opening homily: “Among arts some have as their 
end production, and some theory.’** Aristotle, in speaking of 
arts, says, “Every instance is either practical, poetical or theoret- 
ical st 


In the opening chapter of the Ethics, Aristotle elaborates an 
idea much upon the same order. “Every art and every science,” 
he says, “and likewise every activity and every act of choice, seem 
to aim at something good. Wherefore, well have they defined 
the good as that at which all men aim. But some distinction ap- 
pears with reference to the ends. For some are energies and some 
are certain deeds outside the energies . . .”%° 


In the second homily of the Hexaemeron, Basil gives Aris- 
totle’s philosophy in this fashion: “Matter is taken from the out- 
side, art furnishes a form, and the work is thus composed simul- 
taneously of matter and form.’’’’ Aristotle in his Metaphysics 
furnishes the germ for this argument: “All things developed are 
developed from something, and by something.’’** Many of the 
ideas of the older philosophers were worked over by later thinkers 
and more fully stated. In the third homily Basil returns to 
Aristotle: “What He holds as beautiful is that which shows in its 
perfection all the development of art, and that which points to the 
utility of its end.’’®® 


In his Rhetoric the Greek philosopher has developed the idea 
thus presented: “That is beautiful which is praiseworthy also, 


83 Nichomachean Ethics, I., 1. διὸ καλῶς ἀπεφήναντο τἀγαϑὸν οὗ πάντ᾽ 
- , 
ἐφίεται. 
847 A Ἐπειδὴ δὲ χαὶ τῶν τεχνῶν ai μὲν ποιητικαὶ λέγονται ai δὲ 
πραχτικαὶ αἱ δὲ ϑεωρητικαί. 
. - Α 1 4 n 
85 Metaphysics, 5, I. ὥστ᾽ εἶ πᾶσα διάνοια ἢ πραχτικὴ ἢ ποιητικὴ ἢ 
ϑεωρητικὴ. 
i Ἢ . ~ , Α ~ , e , 4 
Nichomachean Ethics, I., 1. πᾶσα τέχνη καὶ πᾶσα μέϑοδος ὁμοίως δὲ 
πρᾶξις τε καὶ προαίρεσις ἀγαϑοῦ τινος ἐφίεσθαι δοκεῖ. διὸ καλῶς ἀπεφήναντο 
5 A , 5 ; 3 ~ ~ 
τἀγαϑὸν οὗ πάντ᾽ ἐφίεται.. διαφορὰ δέ τις φαίνεται τῶν τελῶν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ 
εἶσιν ἐνέργεαι, τὰ δὲ παρ᾽ αὐτὰς ἔργα τινά. 
— , 4 4 
87 13, B. Καὶ ἔστιν ἡ μὲν ὕλη ἔξωϑεν παραλαμβανομένη τὸ δὲ εἶδος παρὰ 
τῆς τέχνης ἐφαομοζόμενον ἀποτέλεσμα δὲ τὸ ἐξ ἀμφοῖν συντιϑέμενον ἐκ τε 
~ ” ‘ ~ [2 
τοῦ εἴδους καὶ τῆς ὕλης. 
88 M 3 ns , δὲ 4 , ε , , , 4 
etaphysics, VI., 7. πάντα δὲ τὰ γιγνόμενα ὑπό TE τινος γίγνεται καὶ 
5, Ἁ 
ἔκ τινος καὶ τι. 
8932 (, ἀλλὰ καλὸν τὸ τῷ λόγῳ τῆς τέχνης ἐκτελεσϑὲν καὶ πρὸς τὴν 
τοῦ τέλους εὐχρηστίαν σηντεῖνον. 


88 


besides being worthy, on its own merit, of choice, or that also 
which is good, and pleasant, because it is good.””*° 

In the eighth homily Basil again touches upon an Aristotelian 
theme, approaching this time to an idea in the Ethics. Speaking 
of the community life of birds, he says, “Very many others lead a 
common life, such as doves, cranes, starlings and daws.”*! The 
community of daws was a proverb with Aristotle, “daw with 
daw’’®? being commonly used in very much the same sense as 
“birds of a feather.” 

The seven references that occur in the Liber de Spiritu Sancto 
are all of a largely philosophical nature. Basil remarks upon the 
shallow systems of the pagan philosophers, “These cautious dif- 
ferences, which inexperienced thinking and empty error have 
given forth, our opponents in the beginning studied and admired, 
and then afterward took over these distinctions to the simple and 
unstudied doctrine of the Spirit, and this is for the disparagement 
of God, Who is the Word, and for the denial of the Divine 
merit. *° 

Basil’s idea is an insistence upon the vast difference between 
the pagan systems and the philosophy of the Christian life. Aris- 
totle sets forth something of the same theory: “If there is any 
end for the activities which we choose on account of this end, and 
such other matters as we choose, and we do not select everything 
for either reason (for thus we would advance into infinity, as to 
an empty and vain desire), it is evident that this end must be 
what is good “and what is best.’°* Discussing the wording em- 
ployed by pagan philosophers, Basil says, “They have led them- 
selves into this error through their assiduous study of pagan 
authors, who employed the terms ‘of whom’ and ‘through whom’ 
to matters that were, according to their nature, distinct.’ 

90 Rhetoric, I., 9, 3. Καλὸν μὲν οὖν ἐστιν ὃ ἂν δὶ αὐτὸ αἱρετὸν ὃν 
ἐπαινετὸν ἦ, ἢ ὃ ἂν ἀγαϑὸν ὃν ἡδὺ ἢ ὅτι ἀγαϑόν. 

91.73, B. Μυρία δὲ ἄλλα τὸν ἀϑροισματικὸν ἤρηται βίον ὡς περιστεραὶ, 
καὶ γέρανοι, καὶ ψήρες, καὶ κολοιοί. 

92 Nichomachean Ethics, VIII., 1, 6. κολοιὸν ποτὶ κολοιόν. 

933, C. ταῦτα μαϑόντες καὶ ϑαυμάσαντες οὗτοι τὰ ἐκ τῆς ματαιότητος 
καὶ κενῆς ἀπάτης παρατηρήματα καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἁπλῆν καὶ ἀτεχνολόγητον τοῦ 
Πνεύματος διδασκαλίαν μετακομίζουσιν εἰς ἐλάττωσιν μὲν τοῦ ϑεοῦ Λόγου 
ἀϑέτησιν δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος. 

94 Nichomachean Ethics, I., 1. Εἰ δή τι τέλος ἐστὶ τῶν πραχτῶν ὃ δὶ 
αὐτὸ βουλόμεϑα τἄλλα δὲ διὰ τοῦτο καὶ μὴ πάντα δὶ ἕτερον αἱρόυμεϑα 
(πρόεισι γὰρ οὕτω γ᾽ εἰς ἄπειρον ὥστ᾽ εἷναι κενὴν καὶ ματαίαν τὴν ὄρεξιν), 
δήλον ὡς τοῦτ᾽ ἂν εἴη τἀγαϑὸν καὶ ἄριστον. 

955, A. ὑπηγάγετο μέντοι αὐτοὺς πρὸς τὴν ἀπάτην ταύτην καὶ ἣ τῶν 


ἔξωϑεν παρατήρησις οἵ τὸ ἐξ οὗ καὶ τὸ δὶ οὗ κεχωρισμένοις κατὰ τὴν φύσιν 
πράγμασι προσδιένειμαν. 


89 


The terms and their use, for which Basil lays Aristotle under 
contribution, are discussed at considerable length in the Meta- 
physics and Physics of Aristotle.°® Later derivations and newer 
meanings that other philosophers might have read into these words 
are not available, and Basil may have had in mind other and quite 
different interpretations from the versions propounded by the 
thinker to whom the first statement can be attributed. But Basil’s 
use of philosophic terms is very much like Aristotle’s. For in- 
stance, “For thought cannot travel outside ‘was’ nor imagination 
beyond ‘beginning.’’’®* The term for imagination is Aristotle’s 
and is defined by Aristotle as a movement of the mind, generated 
by sensation.®** The ideas of “was” and “beginning” as philosophic 
terms were old and did not begin with Aristotle. Basil touches a 
note of the Pythagorean theories, which Aristotle also. employs: 
“The variety of the universe sets forth well the excellence of His 
might.”°? The Pythagoreans use the same term that Basil em- 
ploys for the variety, but give it the sense of arrangement: “They 
(the Pythagoreans) had such acknowledged principles to set forth 
in the numbers and the concords, and towards such things of the 
heavens as are affected and drawn, and toward the whole universe, 
inferring that these things fit the part with reference to the ar- 
rangement of the whole.’ 


Again he makes use of an expression that was common among 
the pagan philosophers. Both the Pythagoreans and others used 
συστοιχία to signify a series of similar things. Aristotle has it in 
such a connection. Basil says, “When names are classified in the 
very same series of similar things, what chance is there for nam- 
ing on this side connumeration and in that subnumeration?’’?” 
Aristotle uses the same word in the Ethics: “The Pythagoreans 
would seem to speak more plausibly about this, putting in their 


96 Cf. Metaphysics, I., 3, and Physics, II., 3. 

97 11, A.’ AvéxBatov μὲν yao διανοίαις τὸ ἦν. ἀνυπέρβατον δὲ φαντασίαις 
ἀρχή. 

98 De Anima, 420, a. ἡ φαντασία Gv εἴη κίνησις ὑπὸ τῆς αἰσϑήσεως τῆς 
κατ᾽ ἐνέργειαν γιγνομένη. 

9915 A. Liber de Spiritu Sancto. Καὶ ἡ ποικίλη τοῦ παντὸς διακόσμησις 
τὸ ὑπερέχον τῆς ἰσχύος συνίστησιν. 

100 Metaphysics, 986, a., 5. Καὶ ὅσα εἶχον ὁμολογούμενα δειχνύναι ἔν τε 
τοῖς ἀριϑμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἁρμονίαις πρὸς τὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πάϑη καὶ μέρη καὶ πρὸς 
τὴν ὅλην διακόσμησιν ταῦτα συνάγοντες ἐφήμοττον. 

10137 A. τίνα οὖν ἔχει χώραν τὸ μὲν συναριϑμεῖσϑαι, τὸ δὲ ὑπαρι- 
ϑμεῖσϑαι λέγειν ἐν μιᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ συστοιχίᾳ κατατεταγμένων τῶν ὀνομάτων; 


90 


series of the ροοάβ. "2 In the twentieth chapter Basil dwells at 
length upon an idea that Aristotle develops at length in his Politics. 
Throughout the chapter Basil discusses slavery in a tone much 
like Aristotle’s. The theory is this—that some people are nat- 
urally fitted to be slaves, for, being deficient in intelligence, and 
liable to be cheated or misused by unscrupulous persons, they are 
better off when attached to a wise and kind master, who will 
understand their difficulties and care for them properly. The 
theory was not an uncommon one.*® 


Again in the twenty-sixth chapter Basil borrows an expression 
from Aristotle: “Form is said to be in matter, power is said to be 
in what can sustain it, and habit is in one who is moved by it, and 
so on.”?°* Aristotle takes up an entire chapter with a discussion 
of definitions of matter and form.*°- 


Basil offers the following idea on the same lines as it is in 
Aristotle: “For if you take away the black, cold, weight and 
density, the characteristics that pertain to perception—in short, 
what we can see—a substance disappears.’’?°* Aristotle gives the 
same thought: “But with the length, and breadth, and depths taken 
away, we see nothing left, unless that which had been bounded 
by those qualities.’’?°7 

Speaking of various rivers, Basil is led into an error which 
Aristotle also commits. Basil says, “Others from the higher 
regions of the South flow through Aethiopia and discharge them- 
selves, some into the outer sea and some into inaccessible seas— 
the Aegon, the Nyses and the Chremetes.’?°° Aristotle writes, 
‘And in like fashion those rivers flowing through Libya, from the 
mountains of Aethiopia, the Aegon, the Nyses, and the Chremetes 


102 Nichomachean Ethics, I., 6, 7. Πιϑανώτερον δ᾽ ἐοίκασιν ot Πυϑα- 
γόρειοι λέγειν περὶ αὐτοῦ τιϑέντες Ev τῇ TOV ἀγαϑῶν συστοιχίᾳ τὸ ἕν. 

108 Cf, Aristotle, Politics, I., sec. 5. 

10457, B. λέγεται μὲν οὖν τὸ εἶδος ἐν τῇ ὕλῃ εἶναι καὶ ἡ δύναμις ἐν τῷ 
δεστιχῷ καὶ ἡ ἕξις ἐν τῷ κατ᾽ αὐτὴν διακειμένῳ καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦτα. 

105 Cf, Metaphysics, VI., 7. 

1069 Β. ᾽Εὰν γὰρ ἀποστήσῃς τὸ μέλαν, τὸ ψυχρὸν, τὸ βαρὺ τὸ πυκνὸν 
τὰς κατὰ γεῦσιν ἐνυπαρχούσας αὐτῇ ποιότητας ἢ εἴ τινες ἄλλαι περὶ αὐτὴν 
ϑεωροῦνται οὐδὲν ἔσται τὸ ὑποκείμενον. 

107 Metaphysics, VI., 2. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἀφαιρουμένου μήκους καὶ πλάτους καὶ 
βάϑους οὐδὲν ὁρῶμεν ὑπολειπόμενον πλὴν εἴ τι ἔστι τὸ ὁριζόμενον ὑπὸ τούτων. 

108 28 A. ἴΛλλοι ἐκ τῆς μεσημβρίας ἄνωϑεν διὰ τῆς Αἰϑιοπίας οἱ μὲν 
ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔρχονται ϑάλασσαν οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἔξω τῆς πλεομένης 
ἀποκενοῦνται. ὅ te Αἰγών καὶ ὁ Νύσης καὶ ὁ καλούμενος Χρεμέτης. 


91 


the greatest of them.”*° There are no large rivers in the section 
Basil had in mind, and the streams that flow from upper Egypt 
fall into the Nile. The remaining mass of reference and evident 
parallelism from Aristotle is practically all from the Hexaemeron 
and is very largely taken up with a discussion of birds and fishes 
and animals in the different days of creation. The ideas were all 
taken from some easily available natural history or from memory, 
and may have been learned in any of a great number of ways. 
Such references are treacherous, for while indicating a possible 
great familiarity with Aristotle’s book, they do not by any means 
give conclusive proof of this, or even that conscious reference 
occurs. There is always the underlying possibility that they may 
be folklore or stories of personal observation. 

Basil’s whole address of the Hexaemeron is intended for a 
polished and effective homily, and it is to be presumed that such a 
scholar would reinforce his address with such literary assistance 
as he could bring to bear without obviously overdoing the matter. 


He has his natural history allusions roughly divided into three 
groups. They consist of stories and remarks about fishes or other 
marine creatures, birds, and land animals. Basil dwells at length 
upon the virtues of the bee: “Imitate the talent peculiar to the 
bee, who, hurting none nor destroying alien fruit, collects its 
honey.” Again, “Whence it (honey) was liquid from the first 
and in process of time was collected.” And again, “The king bee 
has a sting, but does not use it to revenge himself.”**° All these 
ideas are found in Aristotle: “So, indeed, it makes honey, as I 


have related . . . Spreading its wings in haste, the honey is col- 
lected, for from the beginning such water existed, and after some 
days it is a liquid . . . Bees have a sting, but drones do not. 


King bees have a sting, but do not use it, wherefore some think 
that they do not have them.”". The theme of the bees and their 


109 Meteorologia, I., 13. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τὴν Λιβύην ot μὲν ἐκ τῶν 
Αἰϑιοπικῶν ὀρῶν ὁ τε Αἰγὼν καὶ ὃ Νύσης οἱ δὲ μέγιστοι τῶν διωνομασμένων 
ὅ τε Χρεμέτης καλούμενος. 

11074 A. Β. Μίμησαι τῆς μελίσσης τὸ ἰδιότροπον ὅτι οὐδενὶ λυμαινομένη, 
οὐδὲ καρπὸν ἀλλότριον διαφϑείρουσα τὰ κηρία συμπήγνυται. .. ὅϑεν καὶ 
ὑγρὸν παρὰ τὴν πρώτην ἔστιν εἶτα τῷ χρόνῳ συμπεϑὲν . . . ἔστι μὲν γὰρ 
χέντρον τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀλλ᾽ οὐ χρῆται τούτῳ πρὸς ἄμυναν. 

111 Hist. Anim., 553, b., 31, 553, b., 20, 554, a., 13. These and many sim- 
ilar ideas appear throughout these passages. Τὸ μὲν οὖν κηρίον ποιεῖ ὥσπερ 
εἴρηται ἐκ τῶν ἀνθέων... συνίσταται δὲ τὸ μέλι πεττόμενον. ἐξ ἀρχῆς 
γὰρ οἷον ὕδωρ γίνεται καὶ ἐφ’ ἡμέρας μέν τινας ὑγρὸν ἔστιν. . . κέντρον 
δ᾽ αἱ μέλιτται ἔχουσιν οἱ δὴ κηφῆνες οὐκ ἔχουσιν. οἱ δὲ ἡγεμόνες ἔχουσι μὲν 
χέντρον ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τύπτουσι, διὸ ἔνιοι οὐκ οἴονται ἔχειν αὐτούς. 


92 


diligence, their many activities and their common government was 
a favorite one in antiquity. Isocrates concludes a well rounded 
period in an address to Demonicus with a comparison based upon 
the bees, and Basil reminds his hearers that the “Book of Proverbs 
has given the bee great and honorable praise.”’?”* 


The only other reference to insects is, “Thus, then, ladies, when 
you are seated and busy with weaving—I mean the silk sent from 
the Chinese for making delicate dresses—bear in mind the develop- 
ment of the creature, and you will have clearly the idea of the resur- 
rection.”14* The idea of the chrysalis is explained clearly by Aris- 
totle: “From a great worm which has horns, and differs from 
others, first changing it becomes a caterpillar, then a chrysalis, and 
then from this a necydalos.’’'4* The precise stage Aristotle means 
by necydalos is not certain. 


Animal references are comparatively few and scattered. One 
is in the Oratio de Hominis Structura: ‘““Thus we see dogs eating 
grass for the sake of their health, not because that is the regular 
food for them according to nature, but by a certain instinct animals 
are led to what is suitable for their disorder.’?** Aristotle explains 
it: “At other times they (wild animals) do not take grass, but 
when they are sick they eat it.’ 


The story of the hedgehog shifting in his den, according to 
changes in the wind, is well known: “If the south wind succeeds, 
the animal passes to his northern door.’’?** 


Aristotle tells it more fully: “The perception of the hedgehogs 
may be learned in many ways, for with the north wind blowing, 
or the south wind, they change their holes, and those reared in 
dwellings change their walls, so that those people in Byzantium 


11274. C. Καλῶν καὶ πρεπόντων αὕτη τῶν ἐπαίνων παρὰ τῆς ILagomiac 
τετύχηκε. , , . , > , , ε 

11379 Ὁ. ὅταν οὖν καϑέζησϑε τὴν τούτων ἐργασίαν ἀναπηνιζόμεναι αἱ 
γυναῖκες τὰ νήματα λέγω ἃ πέμπουσιν ἡμῖν οἱ Σῆρες πρὸς τὴν τῶν μαλακῶν 
ἐνδυμάτων κατασκευὴν μεμνημέναι τῆς κατὰ τὸ ζῷον τοῦτο μεταβολῆς, 
ἐναργῆ λαμβάνετε τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔννοιαν. 

114 Hist. Anim., 551, b., 9. ἐκ δέ τινος σκώληκος μεγάλου ὃς ἔχει οἷον 
χέρατα καὶ διαφέρει τῶν ἄλλων γίγνεται πρῶτον μὲν μεταβάλλοντος τοῦ 
σχώληκος κάμπη ἔπειτα βομβυλὶς ἐκ δὲ τούτου νεκύδαλος. 

115 340, Β. καὶ οἷα ὁρῶμεν κύνας ϑεραπείας ἕνεχεν πολλάκις ἄγρωστιν 
ἐπινεμομένους οὐκ ἐπειδὴ συμφυὴς αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἣ τροφὴ ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ ἀδιδάκτῳ 
τινὶ φύσεως διδασκαλίᾳ ἐπὶ τὸ συμφέρον ἔρχεται τὰ ἄλογα. 

116 Hist. Anim., 594, a., 20, ff. πόας δ᾽ ἄλλοτε μὲν οὐχ ἅπτονται ὅταν δὲ 

᾿ , ‘ e ’ » , 
κάμνουσι καϑάπερ καὶ αἱ κύνες ἐσϑίουσι. 
11783, B.vétov δὲ πόλιν μεταλαμβάνοντος εἰς τὴν προάρκχτιον μετα- 
, 
Baivovta. 


93 


say a certain person, from observing the hedgehog doing these 
things, made forecasts, acquiring a great reputation.’’!1® 

Drawing distinctions among animals, Basil writes, “Man, your 
head is erect toward the heaven, your eyes can look up.”14° Aris- 
totle gives it: “Of all living things, man is the only one that is 
Stecin ων 


The longevity of the elephant is noted: “We are told that the 
elephant lives three hundred years and more.’’?*!_ Aristotle has it: 
“Some say that the elephant lives two hundred years, some say 
three hundred.’’!? 


Discussing fish and marine animals, Basil says, “The species of 
testacea is of another kind, as muscles, scallops, sea snails, conches, 
and many varieties of oysters, and besides these kinds there are 
the other kinds, which are called crustaceans, like lobsters, crabs 
and creatures similar to them. After this the soft-shelled class.”+** 
The grouping is Aristotle’s: “Of the testaceans there is another 
race called ostrean (oyster family), and one of the crustaceans 
which is without a name, such are lobsters and the whole race of 
crabs and crayfish, and there is another race of mollusks.’’** Of 
marine animals, Basil says, “There are dolphins and seals, which, 
it is said, receive their young, when recently born and delicate, into 
their stomachs. This is for purposes of protection or when the 
young have been terrified by anything.’’**? Basil may have heard 
vague stories about animals, such as the kangaroo, which carries 
its young in a pouch. Aristotle writes, “The dolphin and the seal 


118 Hist. Anim., 551, b., 9. Περὶ δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐχίνων αἰσϑήσεως 
συμβέβηκε πολλαχοῦ τεϑεωρεῖσϑαι ὅτι μεταβαλλόντων βορέων καὶ νότων οἱ 
μὲν ἐν τῇ γῇ τὰς ὀπὰς αὐτῶν μεταμείβουσιν οἱ δ᾽ ἐν ταῖς οἰκίαις τρεφόμενοι 
μεταβάλλουσι πρὸς τοὺς τοίχους ὥστ᾽ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ γε τινά φασι προλέγοντα 
λαβεῖν δόξαν ἐκ τοῦ κατανενοηκέναι ποιοῦντα ταῦτα τὸν ἐχῖνον. 

11981 A. Ἡ σὴ κεφαλὴ πρὸς οὐρανὸν διανέστηκεν. οἱ ὀφϑαλμοί σου τὰ 
ἄνω βλέπουσιν. 

120 Part. Anim., 689, b., 11. διότι μόνον ἔστιν ὀρθὸν τῶν COwv ἄνϑρωπος. 

12186 B. Νῦν δὲ ἤδη τινὲς ἱστοροῦσι καὶ τριακόσια ἔτη καὶ πλείω 
τούτων βιοῦν τὸν ἐλέφαντα. 

122 Hist. Anim., 596, 12. τὸν δ᾽ ἐλέφαντα ζῆν οἱ μὲν περὶ ἔτη διακοσία 
φάσιν, οἱ δὲ τριακοσία. 

12364, C. ἼΑλλου γένους ἐστὶ τὰ ὀστρακόδερμα προσαγορευόμενα οἷον 
κόγχαι, καὶ κτένες καὶ κοχλίαι ϑαλάσσιοι, καὶ στρόμβοι καὶ αἱ μυρίαι τῶν 
ὀστρέων διαφοραί. “AAAo πάλιν παρὰ ταῦτα γένος τὰ μαλακόστρακα 
προσειρημένα, κάραβοι, καὶ καρκῖνοι, καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια τούτοις. 

124 Hist. Anim., 490, b. ἄλλο δὲ γένος ἐστὶ τὸ τῶν ὀστρακοδέρμων ὃ 
καλεῖται ὄστρεον. ἄλλο τὸ τῶν μαλακοστράκων, ἀνώνυμον ἑνὶ ὀνόματι, οἷον 
κάραδοι καὶ γένη τινὰ καρκίνων καὶ ἀστακῶν. ἄλλο τὸ τῶν μαλακίων. 

12564 A. δελφίνες καὶ φῶκαι ἃ καὶ νεαροὺς ἔτι τοὺς σχύμνους διαπτοη- 
ϑέντας ὑπὸ αἰτίας τινὸς, λέγεται πάλιν τῇ γαστρὶ ὑποδεχόμενα περιστέλλειν. 


94 


give milk and suckle their young and take them in again when 
they are small.’’*° Basil repeats the idea about seals in the fol- 
lowing: “Are not those animals included which give living birth 
like the seals, dolphins and torpedoes, and those like them, which 
are called cartilaginous???’ In Aristotle it is, “Some animals 
give living birth as the human being, the seal, the horse and others 
_ that have hair, and of the marine creatures the whale, the dolphin 
and such are called cartilaginous.”’’*® A last similarity in their 
views of marine animals occurs when Basil says of eels, “Their 
genesis is from the earth.’’?*® Akin to this is the superstition about 
toads springing from the earth after a rain. And Basil says again 
in reference to field mice, “Around Egyptian Thebes after a heavy 
rain in hot weather the ground is covered with field mice.”**° The 
very natural explanation that the mice were forced out of their 
burrows by the sudden inflow of rainwater and thus compelled to 
appear in the open, which they would never have done under 
other circumstances, does not seem to have occurred to him. The 
remark about rain at Thebes in Egypt seems peculiar, in view of 
Herodotus’ statement: “When Psammenitus, son of Amasis, 
reigned as king, a prodigy happened to the Egyptians, the greatest 
that had ever happened, for rain fell at Egyptian Thebes where 
rain had never fallen before, nor did it fall afterward down to 
my time. The Thebans tell this themselves, because in upper 
Egypt no rain falls at all, but on the occasion I mention rain fell 
in a drizzle.”1*1_ Either Herodotus was misinformed or the climate 
had changed in Basil’s time. But if rain rarely fell it would be all 
the more natural that wild animals should have made little pro- 
vision against it and, being caught unawares, would be compelled 
to appear on the surface. Concerning the whole theory of animals 
being generated spontaneously from the earth when conditions are 
favorable, Aristotle has probably supplied Basil’s idea, for he says, 

126 Hist. Anim., 566, b. 16. ἔχει δ᾽ 6 δελφὶς καὶ ἧ φώκη γάλα καὶ 
ϑηλάζονται. καὶ εἰσδέχονται τὰ τέχνα μικρὰ ὄντα. 

12763, D. οὐ τὰ ζῳοτοκοῦντα οἷον φῶκαι καὶ δελφῖνες καὶ νάρκαι, καὶ τὰ 
ὅμοια τούτοις τὰ σελάχη λεγόμενα. 

128 Hist. Anim., 480, a., 35. ζῳοτόχα μὲν οἷον ἄνϑρωπος καὶ ἵππος καὶ 
φώκη καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα ἔχει τρίχας καὶ τῶν ἐνύδρων τὰ κητώδη, οἷον δελφὶς 
καὶ τὰ καλούμενα σελάχη. 

12981 A. ἄλλ᾽ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἔστιν αὐτοῖς ἡ γένεσις. 

13081 Ὁ. ὅπου γε περὶ Θήβας τὰς Αἰγυπτίας, ἐπειδὰν ton λάβρως ἐν 
καύμασιν, εὐθὺς ἀρουραίων μυῶν ἣ χώρα καταπληροῦται. 

131 Herodotus, III., το. ἐπὶ Ψαμμηνίτου δὲ τοῦ ᾿Αμάσιος βασιλεύοντος 
᾿Αιγύπτου φάσμα Αἰγυπτίοισι μέγιστον δὴ ἐγένετο. ὕσϑησαν γὰρ Θῆβαι αἱ 
Αἰγύπτιαι οὔτε πρότερον οὐδαμὰ ὑσϑεῖσαι, οὔτε ὕστερον τὸ μέχρι ἐμεῦ ὡς 
λέγουσιν αὐτοὶ Θηβαῖοι, οὐ γὰρ δὴ ὕεται τὰ ἄνω τῆς Αἰγυπτίου τὸ παράπαν. 
ἀλλὰ καὶ τότε ὕσϑησαν αἱ Θῆβαι ψακάδι. 


95 


“Evidently the matter is thus: In certain muddy lakes, when all 
the water is exhausted and the mud smoothed, as soon as there is 
a heavy rain eels spring forth again. They are not born during 
droughts, nor. in perennial lakes. But they live and are nourished 
by rainwater, and therefore it is evident that they are not born by 
mating nor from eggs.’?*? Referring to the preferences of fish 
for fresh water, Basil says of the north sea that “Its water is 
sweeter than that of other parts of the sea, because the sun does 
not stay there so long, and its rays do not evaporate all the drinka- 
ble particles, and even sea creatures love fresh water. Thus, one 
often sees them enter rivers and swim up from the sea.”2%*  Aris- 
totle phrases it: “On account of the influx of rivers, the sea water 
is sweeter, and as the rivers bring down much nourishment many 
of the fish swim up into these rivers.’’** Basil writes, “Are not 
those classes included that lay eggs, as almost all kinds of fish?’’*** 
Aristotle says explicitly, “The nature of fishes is oviparous.’’*® 
Speaking of their migrations and their visits to various breeding 
places, Basil has, “Of all the gulfs, the Pontus is the most suitable 
for them as being most fit for breeding and nourishing their 
young.”1%7_ Aristotle gives it: “The fish swim into the Pontus 
because of the nourishment and for their young, because these 
places are suitable for breeding, and the fresh and sweet water 
nourishes their offspring.”?°* Continuing the idea, Basil says of 
the departure, “When what was desired has been fully fulfilled, 
then all of them in a convoy turn back again homeward.’’*? Aris- 

132 Hist, Anim., 570, a., 7. φανερὸν δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὅτι οὕτως ἔχει. ἐν ἐνίαις γὰρ 
τελματώδεσι λίμναις τοῦ ὃ’ ὕδατος παντὸς ἐξαντληϑέντος καὶ τοῦ πηλοῦ 
Evotévtos γίγνονται πάλιν ὅταν ὕδωρ γένηται ὄμβριον. ἐν δὲ τοῖς αὐχμοῖς 
οὐ γίγνονται οὐδ᾽ ἐν ταῖς διαμενούσαις λίμναις. καὶ γὰρ EWou καὶ τρέφονται 
ὀμβρίῳ ὕδατι. ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὔτ᾽ ἐξ ὀχείας οὔτ᾽ ἐξ HOV γίγνονται φανερόν 
ἐστιν. 

133 6γ, B. Γλυχύτερον γὰρ τῆς λοιτῆς ϑαλάσσης ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὕδωρ διότι ἐπ’ 
ὀλίγον αὐτῇ προσδιατρίβων ὁ ἥλιος οὐκ ἐξάγει αὐτῆς ὅλον διὰ τῆς axtivoc 
πόταμον. χαίρει δὲ τοῖς γλυκέσι καὶ τὰ ϑαλάσσια. ὅϑεν καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς 
ποταμοὺς ἀνανήχεται πολλάκις καὶ πόρρω ϑαλάσσης φέρεται. 

134 Hist. Anim., 601, b., 16. διὰ γὰρ τὸ πλῆϑος τῶν ποταμῶν γλυκύτερον 
τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ τροφὴν οἱ ποταμοὶ καταφέρουσι πολλήν. ἔτι δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς 
ποταμοὺς ἀναπλέουσι πολλοὶ τῶν ἰχϑύων. 

13563, A. ὀυ τὰ ὠοτόχα ἅπερ ἐστὶ πάντα σχεδὸν τῶν ἰχϑύων τὰ γένη; 

136 De Gen. Ani. ἔτι δ’ ἐστὶν ὠοτόκον τὸ τῶν ἰχϑύων γένος. 

18767, Β. ἐκ τούτου προτιμότερος αὐτοῖς ὁ Πόντος τῶν λουτῶν ἐστὶ 
χόλπων ὡς ἐπιτήδειος ἐναποκυῆσαι καὶ ἐκ ϑρέψαι τὰ ἔκγονα. ὲ 

188 Hist. Anim., 598, b., 3. εἰσπλέουσι δ᾽ εἰς τὸν Πόντον διά τε τὴν 
τροφὴν ... διά τε δὴ τὴν τροφὴν εἰσπλέουσι καὶ διὰ τὸν τόκον. τόποι γάρ 
εἰσιν ἐπιτήδειοι ἐντίκτειν καὶ τὸ πότιμον καὶ τὸ γλυκύτερον ὕδωρ ἐκτρέφει τὰ 
χυήματα. 

189 6γ, Β. ’᾿Επειδὰν δὲ τὸ σπουδαζόμενον ἀρκούντως ἐχπληρωϑῇ πάλιν 
πανδημεὶ πάντες ὑποστρέφουσιν οἴκαδε. 


96 


totle writes, “When they have finished breeding and accomplished 
what was designed, they straightway swim out again with the 
Pleiades.”1*° In discussing their habits of breathing, Basil again 
relies upon Aristotle: “With them the motion of the gills in open- 
ing and shutting in succession, and inhaling and exhaling the water 
takes the place of respiration.”'*t The original has it, “Wherefore 
none of the fish have lungs, but in place of these they have gills, 
just as I have said in those matters concerning breathing. They are 
cooled by the water as those who respire are by the air. Where- 
fore, all things that respire have lungs.’’**? Basil develops the 
thought more fully when he says, “What air is to the terrestrial 
animals, water is to those that swim. The cause is evident. A 
lung lies in us, a thin and porous membrane which takes in the 
air by the distention of the chest and thus cools and airs our in- 
ternal heat, and the distention and contraction of the gills in 
those creatures that inhale and exhale water takes the place of 
this form of respiration.”?** Aristotle has it, “From these things 
it is evident, and through what cause it happens, to breathers 
among animals, to be choked in the water, and to fishes in the air. 
To one the coolness, indeed, comes through the water and to one 
through the air, and either of these being changed from its place 
is deprived of its natural resources for breathing. And the cause 
of the movement of the gills among some and of the breath with 
others is the rising and collapse in some of the exhalation and 
inspiration, and in others of the receiving and expelling of the 
water.”"*# Basil speaks of the manner of feeding or of the food 

140 Hist. Anim., 598, b., 6. ὅταν δὲ τέκωσι καὶ τὰ γενόμενα αὐξηϑῇ 
ἐχπλέουσιν εὐθὺς μετὰ Πλειάδα. 

14163, B. ἐκείνοις δὲ ἣ τῶν βραγχίων διαστολὴ καὶ ἐπιπτύξις δεχομένων 
τὸ ὕδωρ καὶ διιέντων τὸν τῆς ἀναπνοῆς λόγον ἀποπληροῖ. 

142 De Part. Anim., III., 6. διόπερ τῶν μὲν ἰχϑύων οὐδεὶς ἔχει πλεύμονα 
ἀλλ᾽ ἀντὶ τούτου βράγχια καϑάπερ εἴρηται ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἀναπνοῆς. ὕδατι γὰρ 
ποιεῖται τὴν κατάψυξιν τὰ δ᾽ ἀναπνέοντα τῷ ἀέρι διόπερ πάντα τὰ ἀναπνέοντα 
ἔχει πλεύμονα. 

14363, Β. ἀλλ᾽ ὅπερ τοῖς χερσαίοις ἔστιν ἀὴρ τοῦτο TH πλωτῷ γένει τὸ 
ὕδωρ. καὶ ἡ αἰτία δήλη. ὅτι ἡμῖν μὲν ὁ πνεύμων ἔγκειται ἀραιὸν καὶ 
πολύπορον σπλάγχνον ὁ διὰ τῆς τοῦ ϑώρακος διαστολῆς τὸν ἀέρα δεχόμενον 
τὸ ἔνδον ἡμῶν ϑερμὸν διαρριπίζει καὶ ἀναψύχει. 

144 De Respiratione, 19. Δῆλον δ᾽ ἐκ τούτων xai διὰ tiv’ αἰτίαν τοῖς 
μὲν ἀναπνέουσι τῶν E@wv ἀποπνίγεσϑαι συμβαίνει ἐν τῷ ὑγρῷ τοῖς δ᾽ ἰχϑύσιν 
ἐν τῷ ἀέρι. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ διὰ τοῦ ὕδατος ἣ κατάψυξις γίνεται τοῖς δὲ διὰ τοῦ 
ἀέρος ὧν ἑκάτερα στερίσκεται μεταβάλλοντα τοὺς τόπους. ἣ δ᾽ αἰτία τῆς 
χινήσεως τοῖς μὲν τῶν βραγχίων τοῖς δὲ τοῦ πνεύμονος ὧν αἱρομένων καὶ 
συνιζόντων τὰ μὲν ἐχπλέουσι καὶ εἰσπνέουσι τὰ δὲ δέχονται τὸ ὑγρὸν καὶ 
ἐξιᾶσιν ἔτι δ᾽ ἣ σύστασις τοῦ ὀργάνου τόν δ᾽ ἔχει τὸν τρόπον. 


97 


of fishes upon four occasions. He begins once, as follows: “The 
majority of fishes feed upon each other, and the smaller among 
them is food for the greater.’’'** For the first half of the state- 
ment Aristotle says, “They all eat each other, except the pike and 
conger eel.”'*® While continuing the idea of their carnivorous 
habits he again says, “The stronger make war upon the lesser 
ones, for they devour them.”**7 Again Basil says, “Food in the 
case of various fishes is divided according to race—some draw 
their nourishment from the mud and some from sea weeds, and 
some are satisfied with the herbs that are nourished in the 
water.’’"4* Aristotle has three statements closely connected in his 
text: “Some fish feed upon their own offspring at the time when 
they are born, and they have no other food... The pike is 
nourished by sea weeds and inthe sand . . . The capitones feed 
upon the mud .. . But the river fish find food eating each other 
and herbs and roots and whatever they can take from the slime.’’** 
Aristotle’s remark does not agree with modern versions of the 
pike’s habits, which make it so savage and carnivorous that no 
other fish can exist in the same streams. In reference to the feed- 
ing of fish, Basil says that “They all have a very sharp row of 
teeth, which are set closely together so that their food may not 
escape in time that they are chewing it.”?°° Aristotle gives it, 
“All of them have sharp teeth, so that they are able to tear, and 
tear quickly. For they do not spend time in consuming.”*>* 
Before making this statement Basil notes that “None among these 
fish ruminate except the scar.’’®? Aristotle explains it, “But of 


e , 


14565 c. ᾿Αλληλοφάγοι δὲ τῶν ἰχϑύων ot πλεῖστοι. καὶ ὁ μικρότερος 
mag’ ἐχείνοις βρῶμά ἐστι τοῦ μείζονος. 

146 Hist. Anim., 501, a., 17. ἀλληλοφαγοῦσι δὲ πάντες μὲν πλὴν κεστρέως 
μάλιστα δ᾽ οἱ γόγγροι. 

147 Hist. Anim., 610, b., 17. ὃ δὲ πόλεμος ἔστι τοῖς κρείττοσι πρὸς τοὺς 
ἥττους κατεσϑίει γὰρ ὃ κρείττων. 

148 65, C. τροφὴ δὲ ἰχϑύσιν ἄλλοις ἄλλη κατὰ γένος διωρισμένη. οἱ μὲν 
γὰρ ἰλύν τρέφονται ot δὲ τοῖς φυκίοις. ἄλλοι ταῖς βοτάναις ταῖς ἐν 
τρεφομέναις τῷ ὕδατι ἀρκοῦνται. 

149 Hist. Anim., 591, a., 7, 501, a., 22, 502, a., 24. οἱ δ᾽ ἰχϑύες τοῖς μὲν 
χυήμασι τρέφονται πάντες ὅταν ot χρόνοι καϑήκωσιν οὗτοι τὴν δ᾽ ἄλλην 
τροφὴν οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ποιοῦνται πάντες. . . τρέφεται δὲ πᾶς κεστρεὺς 
φυκίοις καὶ ἄμμῳ. .. οἱ δὲ κέφαλαι νέμονται τὴν ἰλύν. . . τροφῇ δὲ καὶ 
οἱ ποταμίοι χρῶνται ἀλλήλους τ’ ἐσθίοντες καὶ βοτάνας καὶ “ρίζας κἄν τι ἐν 
τῷ βορβόρῳ λάβωσιν. 

150 64, C. πάντα δὲ ὀξυτάταις ἄκμαις ὀδόντων καταπεπύχνωται ἵνα μὴ τῇ 
χρονίᾳ μασήσει ἣ τροφὴ διαρρέῃ. 

151 De Part, Ani., 675, a., 5. ὀξεῖς δὲ πάντες ἔχουσιν ὥστε διελεῖν μὲν 
δύνανται φαύλως δὲ διελεῖν. ἐνδιατοίβειν γὰρ οὐχ οἷον τε χρονίζοντας. 

ο τό 64, C. οὐδὲ γὰρ μηρυχίζει τι παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς εἰ μὴ τὸν σκάρον μόνον 
ἱστοροῦσί τινες. 


98 


fish it seems that the one called the scar is the only one that 
ruminates like quadrupeds.’*** Basil uses the same classification 
for animals that Aristotle gives: “Some are called Schizoptera, as 
eagles, and some Dermoptera, as bats, and others Ptilota, as 
wasps; others Coleoptera, as beetles.’ These terms are taken 
from Aristotle, who uses them repeatedly in defining different 
varieties.1°> Basil’s ideas about animals are introduced gracefully 
and serve to bring out his idea effectively. In many cases they can 
be traced directly to Aristotle, though not, of course, with absolute 
certainty. For instance, Basil says about the partridge, “The 
partridge is deceitful and jealous, lending traitorous help to the 
hunters to seize their prey.”’°* Aristotle, without giving any com- 
ment upon the nature of the partridge, explains the hunting case 
as follows: “But the guide (a tame partridge), taking his stand 
in front of a partridge from among the wild ones, as if about to 
fight, hastens the hunters.”**" The use of decoys is very ancient 
and, of course, afforded the rhetorician opportunity for a great 
display of feeling. Remarking upon the hooked beaks and talons 
of birds of prey, Basil says, “Swooping easily upon their prey, 
they tear apart their food after having seized 11.158. Aristotle 
says, “Such of the birds as are carnivorous have hooked beaks.”*** 
Basil discusses the migratory birds: “There is this distinction 
among them, that some are of the country itself and do not leave 
it, and some will undertake to journey for great distances, and 
the majority of them will migrate at the approach of winter.’?®° 
Aristotle says, “Some, indeed, find places of refuge in the locali- 
ties in which they are, some go forth from those places after the 
autumnal equinox from the Pontus and the cold regions, 

153 Hist. Anim., 591, b., 23. δοκεῖ δὲ τῶν ἰχϑύων ὁ καλούμενος σχάρος 
μηρυκάζειν ὥσπερ τὰ τετράποδα μόνος. 

15472 C. καὶ τὰ μὲν ὠνόμασαν σχιζόπτερα, ὡς τοὺς ἀετοὺς. τὰ δὲ 
δερμόπτερα ὡς τὰς νυχτερίδας. τὰ δὲ πτιλωτὰ ὡς τοὺς σφῆκας, τὰ δὲ 
χκολεόπτερα ὡς τοὺς κανϑάρους. 

155 Cf, Hist. Anim., 480, b., and 400, a. 

15673, C, Δολερὸν 6 πέρδιξ καὶ ζηλότυπον, κακούργως συμπράττων τοῖς 
ϑηραταῖς πρὸς τὴν ἄγραν. 

157 Hist. Anim., 614, a. ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν ϑηρευτὴν πέρδικα ὠϑεῖται τῶν ἀγρίων 
6 ἡγεμὼν ἀντάσας ὡς μαχούμενος. 

15873, A. ὥστε καὶ συλληφϑῆναν ρᾳδίως τὸ ϑήραμα καὶ διασπαραγὲν, 
τροφὴν τῷ ἑλόντι γενέσθϑαι. 

159 Hist. Anim., 502, a. τῶν δ᾽ ὀρνίϑων ὅσοι μὲν γαμψώνυχες σαρκοφάγοι 
πάντες εἰσί. 

16073, B. Ἤδη δέ τις καὶ ἑτέρα ἐν τούτοις ἐστὶ διαφορὰ καϑ᾽ ἣν τὰ μὲν 
ἐπιδημητικά τε ἐστὶ καὶ ἐγχώρια τὰ δὲ ἀπαίρειν πέφυκε πορρωτάτῳ καὶ 
χειμῶνος ἐγγίζοντος éxtomitew ὡς τὰ πολλά. 


99 


fleeing the approaching νυἱηίεγ.19ΘΑ bird like the eagle would 
naturally attract much attention and has long been a favorite 
theme for rhetoricians: “In the rearing of its young the eagle is 
most unfair, for though it hatches but two young ones, it hurls 
one of these out upon the earth, throwing it down with blows of its 
wings. And though it takes the care of the other upon itself, 
while the survivor is still growing, it leaves the other young bird 
because of the difficulty of finding food. But, as they say, the 
osprey will not permit the fallen bird to perish, but picking it up, 
rears it along with its own young ones.’*®? The same theme is 
treated by Aristotle: ‘““The eagle lays three eggs, but abandons two 
of these, as is told in the verse of Musaeus, ‘Which hatches out 
three, abandons two, and cares for one.’”’?®* The rest of the story, 
about the fish hawk, is told at another point: “That bird called the 
fish hawk, being well disposed and of a diligent nature, a food car- 
rier and gentle, rears both its own young ones and the eagle’s, for 
when the eagle casts out its young prematurely, not being far 
enough in life and not able to fly, the eagle seems to cut off its 
young through jealousy, as it is by nature jealous and greedy, and 
rapacious in grasping whatever it may take. Accordingly it envies 
its nestling young when they become large eaters and can tear 
with their claws. Then the young fight with each other for places 
and food. So, it strikes and throws them out, and they, falling, 
scream, and the fish hawk picks them up.”!** Discussing birds that 


161 Hist. Anim., 596, b., 29. Καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐν αὐτοῖς tots συνήϑεσι τόποις 
εὑρίσκεται τὰς βοηϑείας τὰ δ᾽ ἐκτοπίζει μετὰ μὲν τὴν φϑινοπωρινὴν ἰσημερίαν 
ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου καὶ τῶν ψυχρῶν τόπων φεύγοντα τὸν ἐπίοντα χειμῶνα. 

16276 C. ᾿Αδικώτατος περὶ τὴν ἐκγόνων ἐχτροφὴν 6 ἀετός. Δύο γὰρ 
ἐξαγαγὼν νεοσσοὺς τὸν ἕτερον αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν καταρρήγνυσι ταῖς πληγαῖς 
τῶν πτερῶν ἀπωϑούμενος. τὸν δὲ ἕτερον μόνον ἀναλαβὼν, οἰκειοῦται, διὰ τὸ 
τῆς τροφῆς ἐπίπονον ἀποποιούμενος ὃν ἐγέννησεν. ᾿Αλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῦτον ὥς 
φασι διαφϑαρῆναι ἡ φήνη. ᾿Αλλ᾽ ὑπολαβοῦσα αὐτὸν τοῖς οἰκείοις ἑαυτῆς 
νεοσσοῖς συνεχτρέφει. 

163 Hist. Anim., 563, a. 17. ‘O δ᾽ ἀετός ᾧὰ μὲν τίκτει τρία ἐκλέπει δὲ 
τούτων τὰ δύο ὥσπερ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν τοῖς Μουσαίου λεγομένοις ἔπεσιν, ὃς τρία 
μὲν τίκτει, δύο ἐκλέπει, ἕν δ᾽ ἀλεγίζει. 

: an Hist. Anim., 619, b., 23. ἣ δὲ καλουμένη φήνη ἔστιν εὔτεκνος καὶ 
εὐβίοτος καὶ δειπνοφόρος καὶ ἤπιος καὶ τὰ τέκνα ἐκτρέφει καὶ τὰ αὐτῆς καὶ 
τὰ τοῦ ἀετοῦ. καὶ yao ταῦϑ᾽ ὅταν ἐχβάλῃ, ἐχείνη ἀναλαβοῦσα τρέφει. 
ἐχβάλλει 6 ἀετὸς πρὸ ὥρας ἔτι βίου δεόμενα καὶ οὔπω δυνάμενα πέτεσθϑαι. 
ἐχβάλλειν δὲ δοκεῖ 6 ἀετὸς τοὺς νεοττὸυς διὰ φϑόνον. φύσει γάρ ἐστι 
φϑονερὸς καὶ ὀξύπεινος, ἔτι ὁ ὀξυλαβής. λαμβάνει δὲ μέγα ὅταν λάβῃ. 
φϑόνει οὖν τοῖς νεοττοῖς καὶ ἀδρυνομένοις ὅτι φαγεῖν ἀγαϑοὶ γίγνονται καὶ 
σπᾷ τοῖς ὄνυξιν. μάχονται δὲ καὶ οἱ νεοττοὶ καὶ αὐτοὶ περὶ τῆς ἕδρας καὶ τῆς 
τροφῆς. ὁ δ᾽ ἐχβάλλει καὶ χόπτει αὐτούς. οἱ δ᾽ ἐκβαλλόμενοι βοῶσι, καὶ 
οὕτως ὑπολαμβάνει αὐτοὺς ἣ φήνη. 


100 


follow leaders, Basil says, “Returning to these again, there are 
some without government, and such are autonomous. But those 
that are under a leader do not rebel at being led, as the cranes, for 
instance.’*> Aristotle has it, “Of the birds, some are under a 
leader, and some are leaderless, those like the crane, and the whole 
race of bees being under a leader.”*®* Anecdotes about the cranes 
now come out naturally. “After finishing his watch,” Basil says, 
for according to his picturesque view they put out a set of sentries 
who keep guard, waking each other in turn, “the sentry gives a 
cry and goes to sleep, and the one that awakes in his turn repays 
the sense of security that he has enjoyed.’’** Something of the 
same version is given by Aristotle: “When the cranes rest, some 
sleep, having their heads under their wings, and standing upon one 
foot, but a sentry, keeping his head uncovered and looking out, 
when he perceives anything signifies it, crying out.”1®* This ac- 
count is a little less romantic than that given by the moralizing 
orator who is exhorting his hearers to a like faithful performance 
of their duties. 


The kingfisher draws attention: “All winds are hushed and the 
waves of the sea grow calm during the seven days that the halcyon 
sits.’’*8° The waves would have had to be very calm, according to 
the prevalent superstition to which Basil refers, namely, that the 
halcyon makes her nest upon the water and floats about with it 
during the seven days’ incubation. Aristotle gives the story: “The 
halcyon hatches with the returning winds of winter. And there- 
fore the seven days before the winds, when the weather has be- 
come genial, are called halcyon days, and the seven days after the 
winds.’’7° The turtle dove receives notice as being of a loving 
and constant disposition: “They say that the turtle dove, being 


16573, B. Iddw ἐν τούτοις τὰ μὲν ἀναρχά ἐστι καὶ οἷον αὐτόνομα. τὰ 
δὲ ὑφ᾽ ἡγεμόνι τετάχϑαι καταδεχόμενα ὡς αἱ γέρανοι. 

166 Hist. Anim., 488, a., 10. πολιτικὰ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὧν ἕν τι καὶ κοινὸν γίγνεται 
πάντων τὸ ἔργον ὅπερ οὐ πάντα ποιεῖ τὰ ἀγελαῖα. ἔστι δὲ τοιοῦτον ἄνϑρωπος, 
μέλιττα, σφήξ, μύρμηξ, γέρανος. 

16775, B. εἶ τὰ τοῦ καιροῦ τῆς φυλακῆς πληρουμένου ἣ μὲν βοήσασα 
πρὸς ὕπνον ἐτράπετο H δὲ τὴν διαδοχὴν ὑποδεξαμένη, ἧς ἔτυχεν ἀσφαλείας 
ἀντέδωχεν ἐν τῷ μέρει. 

168 Hist. Anim., 614, b. ὅταν δὲ καϑίζωνται at μὲν ἄλλαι ὑπὸ τῇ πτέρυγι 

. ᾿ ” , a ig Te uk 4 > x e x ε 8 »” 
τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔχουσαι καϑεύδουσιν Eq’ ἑνὸς ποδὸς ἐναλλὰξ 6 δ᾽ ἡγεμὼν ἔχων 
τὴν κεϑαλὴν προορᾷ καὶ ὅταν αἴσϑηταί τι σημαίνει βοῶν. 

16975 Β. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως κοιμίζονται μὲν πάντες ἄνεμοι ἡσυχάζει δὲ κῦμα 
ϑαλάσσιον ὅταν ἁλχυὼν ἐπῳάζῃ τὰς ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας. 

170 Hist. Anim., 542, b., 4. ἢ δ᾽ ἀλκυὼν τίκτει περὶ τροπὰς τὰς χειμερινάς. 
διὸ καὶ καλοῦνται ὅταν εὐδιειναὶ γένωνται at τροπαὶ ἁλκυονίδες ἡμέραι ἑπτὰ 
μὲν πρὸ τροπῶν ἑπτὰ δὲ μετὰ τροπάς. 


101 


separated from its mate, will not enter a new union, but remains 
in widowhood.”?"! Aristotle mentions the case without the flourish 
of the orator: “The turtle dove keeps the same one for its mate, 
and the pigeon does not approach another.’’** Legend easily lends 
fanciful developments, and it was a good instance for a clever 
speaker. Telling of the resourcefulness of the swallow, Basil cites 
Aristotle’s account. When the swallow has no mud to cement 
her nest, she has to make some: “‘Moistening the tips of her wings 
in water, she rolls in very fine dust and thus procures mud in 
abundance.”** Aristotle tells it briefly, as is his wont: “If mud 
is lacking, wetting herself, she wallows with her wings in the 
dust.”?7* Aelian, who is not always so frank in acknowledging 
his debts to Aristotle, says, “The swallow, when there is an abun- 
dance of mud, bears it in her claws and fashions the nest, but if 
there is any lack of it, as Aristotle says, she moistens herself and, 
flying to the dust, flutters her wings, thus producing mud.”7° The 
affection of storks for one another, and especially for their parents, 
is a theme for Basil to enlarge at length: “They surround their 
father when old age makes his feathers drop off, and warm him 
with their wings, and provide abundantly for his support.’’*** The 
remark made by Aristotle is, “Therefore, concerning storks, it is a 
matter of common talk among the many, that they are nourished 
in turn.’’!77_ The song of the nightingale gives Basil opportunity 
to dwell upon contentedness with one’s lot: “How the nightingale 
is always awake when sitting on her eggs, and passes the night in 
continual melody.’’7® Aristotle makes no statement from which 
Basil’s remark would certainly follow, but he says, “And the 

17176 C. τὴν τουγόνα, φασὶ διαϊζευχϑεῖσαν πότε τοῦ ὁμόζυγος μηκέτι 
τὴν πρὸς ἑτέραν χαταδέχεσϑαι κοινωνίαν ἀλλὰ μένειν ἀσυνδύαστον. 

172 Hist. Anim., 613, a. ἔχει δὲ τὸν ἄρρενα ἣ τρυγὼν τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ 
φάττα καὶ ἄλλον οὐ προσίεται. 

17375 A. τὰ ἄκρα τῶν πτερῶν ὕδατι χαταβρέξασα εἶτα τῇ λεπτοτάτῃ 
χόνει ἐνειληϑεῖσα οὕτως ἐπινοεῖ τοῦ πηλοῦ τὴν χρείαν. 

174 Hist. Anim., 612, b., 24. κἂν ἀπορῆται πηλοῦ, βρέχουσα αὐτὴν 
καλινδεῖται τοῖς τατος πρὸς τὴν κόνιν. ᾿ 

175 Alian. Hist. Anim., III., 24: Ἢ χελιδὼν ὅτε εὐποροίῃη πηλοῦ τοῖς 
ὄνυξι φέρει χαὶ συμπλάττει τὴν πε χιάν. εἰ δὴ ἀπορία εἴη ὡς ᾿Αριστοτέλης 
λέγει ἑαυτὴν βρέχει καὶ ἐς κόνιν ἐμπεσοῦσα φύρει τὰ πτερὰ, καὶ τοῦ πηλοῦ 
περιπαγέντος. 

a 75, C. Ἐκεῖνοι tov πατέρα ὑπὸ τοῦ γήρως πτερορρυήσαντα περι- 
στάντες ἐν κύχλῳ τοῖς οἰκείοις πτεροῖς διαϑάλπουσι καὶ τὰς τροφὰς ἀφϑόνως 
παρασκευάζοντες. 

177 Hist. Anim., 615, b., 23. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῶν πελαργῶν, ὅτι ἀντεχτρέ- 
φονται, ϑρυλεῖται παρὰ πολλοῖξ: 


17897 Α, Πῶς ἄγρυπνον ἡ ἀηδὼν ὅταν ἐπῳάζη, διὰ πάσης νυκτὸς τῆς 
μελῳδίας μὴ ἀπολήγουσα. 


102 


nightingale sings continuously during fifteen days and nights.”?*® 
The time required would be about the same, and the active 
imagination of the eastern orator would supply details. But no 
certain connection follows. Basil sees in the long neck of the 
swan an instance of utility in the purpose of the Creator. It is, 
“So that he may throw it like a line and take up food that is hidden 
at the bottom of the water.”*®° Aristotle explains it thus: “Some 
of these birds have the beak long, just like the neck is, for they 
take their food from the depths.”* Aristotle cites a natural 
remedy which Basil has employed, but the instance is the same: 
“Tf any one of the young swallows should injure its eyes, the swal- 
low has a certain remedy from nature through which it restores 
the vision of its offspring to health.’’*? Substantially the same 
story is told by Aristotle. Speaking of celandine and its healing 
qualities, he says, “And through this, if any of the young swallows 
injures its eyes, it is restored to health.’’** In spite of the fact 
that their locomotion is in the air, the winged creatures need feet, 
and Basil sees in this a provision of Providence: “Hence, no one 
of the winged creatures is without feet, since it finds its food upon 
the earth, and by every necessity is unable to do without feet.’’1** 
Aristotle phrases it: “With good reason do winged things have 
feet, and fish lack feet. For with the former life is in the dry, 
but being hardly able to remain forever on the wing, there is neces- 
sity for having feet.’’8° Basil contrasts the singing of the birds 
with the silences that follow: “For the twitterings and flappings of 
the wings are of the birds, as are the silences.”2®* The bird songs, 
and especially the song of the nightingale, was a favorite in Greek 
literature. Aristotle’s mention of the songs and silences is: “Their 

179 Hist. Anim., 632, b., 27. ἣ δ᾽ ἀηδὼν ἄδει μὲν συνεχῶς ἡμέρας καὶ 
νύχτας δεκαπέντε. 

18078, B. ἵνα, ὥσπερ τινὰ δὁρμιὰν κατάγων τὴν ἐν τῷ βάϑει κεκρυμένη 
τροφὴν ἐκχπορίζηται. 

181 De Part. Anim., 693, b., 20. ἔνια δὲ τούτων μαχρὸν ἔχει τὸ ρύγχος 
καϑάπερ καὶ τὸν αὐχένα. τὴν γὰρ τροφὴν λαμβάνουσιν ἐκ τοῦ βάϑους. 

18275, A. ὧν ἐάν τις ἐκκεντήσῃ τὰ ὄμματα ἔχει τινὰ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως 
ἰατρικὴν δὶ ἧς πρὸς ὑγείαν ἐπανάγει τῶν ἐκγόνων τὰς ὄψεις. 

188 De Gen. Anim., IV., 6. χαὶ διὰ τοῦτο τῶν χελιδόνων ἐάν τις ἔτι νέων 
ὄντων ἐκχεντήσῃ τὰ ὄμματα πάλιν ὑγιάζονται. 

18472 A. Πλήν γε ὅτι οὐδὲν τῶν πτηνῶν ἄπουν, διὰ τὸ πᾶσι τὴν δίαιταν 
ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ὑπάρχειν καὶ πάντα ἀναγχαίως τῆς τῶν ποδῶν ὑπουργίας 
προσδεῖσθϑαι. 

185 De Incessu Anim., 18. Εὐλόγως δὲ καὶ τὰ μὲν πτηνὰ πόδας ἔχει. of 
δ᾽ ἰχϑύες ἄποδες. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ 6 βίος ἐν τῷ ξηρῷ μετέωρον δ᾽ ἀεὶ μένειν 
ἀδύνατον, ὥστ᾽ ἀνάγκη πόδας ἔχειν. 

18673, (, οἱ μὲν γὰρ κωτίλοι καὶ λάλοι τῶν ὀρνίϑων εἰσίν. οἱ δὲ σιγηλοί. 


108 


enunciation is inarticulate, the twitterings and the silences, the 
singings and the silences.’1%? 


The diversity among kinds of birds and their characteristics is 
a theme for wonder: “There are also, however, ten thousand dif- 
ferences of species among birds, which if one catalogues according 
to their nature, which we touched upon in part in our examination 
of the fishes, he will find, indeed, that though there is one name 
for flying things, there is an infinity of differences among them in 
sizes, colors, forms, according to their lives, activities and cus- 
toms . . .’8§ Aristotle states it: “For each one of these has a 
difference, according to its race, and there are many species of 
fishes and birds. And the most part differ among themselves, ac- 
cording to their opposing characteristics, such as color and form, 
some being more different and some less than others. Besides 
these differences they vary according to number, fewness, size, 
smallness and, all in all, according to excess or defect.’’*8° Exhort- 
ing his hearers to acts of charity, Basil says, “Do not imitate the 
savagery of the hook-beaked birds, who, when they see their young 
already about to fly, beating them with their wings and forcing 
them out, cast them from the nest, and for the rest take no care of 
them. The love of crows for their young is to be praised. The 
crows accompany their young already flying, furnishing them sup- 
port and nourishing them a very long time.’’*° Aristotle speaks 
of the activities of crows, as follows: ‘Since all birds who have 
hooked beaks are predatory, and when they desire their young to 


187 Hist. Anim., 488, a., 33. καὶ τούτων τὰ μὲν διάλεκτον ἔχει ta δὲ 
Bue ols Wee Pg a See PE VTS iguinig pet att 0 NG Vay τος 
ἀγροάμματα, καὶ τὰ μὲν κωτίλα τὰ δὲ σιγηλά, τὰ δ᾽ ὠδικὰ, ta δ᾽ ἄνῳδα. 

He uses ἄνῳδα to signify the sudden and hushed stillness that follows 
just after a prolonged burst of song, as opposed to σιγήλα, the ordinary 
word for stillness. 

188 72 B. Εἰσὶ μέντοι γενῶν διαφοραὶ μυρίαι καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὄρνισιν ἃς ἐάν 
τις κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐπίῃ καϑ’ ὃν ἐν μέρει καὶ τῆς τῶν ἰχϑύων 
ἐξετάσεως ἐφηψάμεϑα εὑρήσει ἕν μὲν ὄνομα τῶν πετεινῶν, μυρίας δὲ ἐν 
τούτοις διαφορὰς ἔν τε τοῖς μεγέϑεσι καὶ ἐν τοῖς σχήμασι καὶ ἐν ταῖς χροαῖς. 
καὶ κατὰ τοὺς βίους καὶ τὰς πράξεις καὶ τὰ ἤϑη. 

189 Hist. Anim., 486, a., 23. τούτων γὰρ ἑκάτερον ἔχει διαφορὰν κατὰ τὸ 
γένος καί ἐστιν εἴδη πλείω ἰχϑύων καὶ ὀρνίϑων. διαφέρει δὲ σχεδὸν τὰ 
πλεῖστα τῶν μορίων ἐν αὐτοῖς παρὰ τὰς τῶν παϑημάτων ἐναντιώσεις, οἷον 
χρώματος καὶ σχήματος τῷ τὰ μὲν μᾶλλον ταὐτὰ πεπονϑέναι τὰ δ᾽ ἧττον ἔτι 
δὲ πλήϑει καὶ ὀλιγότητι καὶ μεγέϑει καὶ σμιχρότατι καὶ ὅλως ὑπεροχῇ καὶ 
ἐλλείψει. 

19076 A. Μὴ μιμήσῃ τῶν γαμψωνύχων ὀρνίϑων τὸ ἀπηνές. of ἐπειδὰν 
ἴδωσι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν νεοττοὺς κατατολμῶντας λουτὸν τῆς πτήσεως ἐχβάλλουσι 
τῆς καλιᾶς τύπτοντες, τοῖς πτεροῖς καὶ ὠϑοῦντες καὶ οὐδεμίαν ἐπιμέλειαν 
ποιοῦνται πρὸς τὸ λοιπόν. ᾿Επαινετὸν τῆς χορώνης τὸ φιλότεχνον. ἣ καὶ 
πετομένοις ἤδη παρέπεται, σιτίζουσα αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐκτρέφουσα μέχρι πλείστου. 


104 


fly they cast them struggling from the nest, and as has been said, 
the greater part of birds do this, excepting the crows, and when 
the young are reared, take no further note of them. But the crow 
for some time, loving its offspring, feeds it while flying, for the 
most part.”!®! Basil sums up the many activities of the birds, 
their numerous kinds and the different colors, forms and charac- 
teristics by saying: “Innumerable, as we have said, are the activi- 
ties and differences of their lives. Some among these irrational 
animals are political, as it were proper to a civil administration, as 
when they concentrate the individual energy of their number to the 
one common end, as in the case of the bees. This one may see.”?*? 
Aristotle develops the idea a little more elaborately: “And there 
are certain differences, according to their lives and activities, for 
some of them are gregarious and some are solitary, some walk, 
some fly, some swim, and some do two of these things. Of the 
gregarious, some lead a civil life, as it were, some are scattered, 
and the gregarious among winged things are such as the dove, the 
crane and swan. And of swimming things the whole race of 
fishes, such as are called runners, tunnies, pylameds and bonito. 
Man, however, has either nature. And there are the polities 
among them, in which one thing is common to all, as not among all 
gregarious beasts. Such are man, the bee, and the wasp, and the 
crane.’’*°? Aristotle means in these remarks that the man and the 
bee, and so on, belong to the politically organized, contrasting them 
with certain gregarious animals that, indeed, herd together, but do 
not appear to do anything toward a common end. The observation 
of any normal person who lived a retired life at Annesi, in an 

191 Hist. Anim., 563, b., 7. ἐπεὶ πάντες γ᾽ ὡς εἰπεῖν οἱ γαμψώνυχες ὅταν 
ϑᾶττον οἱ νεοττοὶ δύνωνται πέτεσϑαι ἐκβάλλουσι τύπτοντες ἐκ τῆς νεοττιᾶς 
καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ ὥσπερ εἴρηται σχεδὸν οἱ πλεῖστοι τοῦτο δρῶσι καὶ 
ϑρέψαντες οὐδεμίαν ἐπιμέλειαν ποιοῦνται τὸ λοιπὸν πλὴν κορώνης. αὕτη δ᾽ 
ἐπί τινα χρόνον ἐπιμελεῖται. καὶ γὰρ ἤδη πετομένων σιτίζει παραπετομένη. 

19273, D. Μυρίαι ὡς ἔφαμεν καὶ τῶν πράξεων καὶ τῶν βίων διαφοραί. 
Ἔστι δέ τινα καὶ πολιτικὰ τῶν ἀλόγων εἴπερ πολιτείας ἴδιον τὸ πρὸς ἕν πέρας 


χοινὸν συννεύειν τὴν ἐνέργειαν τῶν xa’ ἕκαστον ὡς ἐπὶ τῶν μελισσῶν ἄν 
τις ἴδοι. . 

193 Hist. Anim., 487, b., 33. Εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ at τοιαίδε διαφοραὶ κατὰ τοὺς 
βίους καὶ τὰς πράξεις. τὰ μὲν γὰρ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἀγελαῖα, τὰ δὲ μοναδικά, καὶ 
πεζά, καὶ πτηνά, καὶ πλωτά, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπαμφοτερίζει. καὶ τῶν ἀγελαίων (καὶ 
τῶν μοναδικῶν) τὰ μὲν πολιτικὰ τὰ δὲ σποραδικά ἐστιν. ἀγελαῖα μὲν οὖν 
οἷον ἔν τοῖς πτηνοῖς τὸ τῶν περιστερῶν γένος, καὶ γέρανος, καὶ κύκνος 
(γαμψώνυχον δ᾽ ὀυδὲν ἀγελαῖον) καὶ τῶν πλωτῶν πολλὰ γένη τῶν ἰχϑύων, 
οἷον οὕς χαλοῦσι δρομάδας, ϑύννοι, πηλαμύδες, ἀμίαι. 6 δ’ ἄνϑροωπος 
ἐπαμφοτερίζει. πολιτικὰ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὧν ἕν τι καὶ κοινὸν γίγνεται πάντων τὸ 
ἔργον ὅπερ οὐ πάντα ποιεῖ τὰ ἀγελαῖα. ἔστι δὲ τοιοῦτον ἄνϑρωπος, μέλιττα, 
σφήξ, μύρμηξ, γέρανος. 


105 


- unsettled locality, would enable him to make notes upon the habits 
of wild creatures inhabiting the near country and occasionally 
coming within view. This simple source would supply many of 
the reminiscences and theories that Basil later evinces. 


4. Aehan, Plutarch and late philosophers. 


Allusions traceable to Aelian are few. A superstition long pre- 
vailed among the ancients that vultures brought forth their young 
without mating. Basil mentions it casually: “Vultures, as people 
say, bring forth without mating, and are for the most part very 
long lived.”1®* Aelian gives it thus: ‘‘Male vultures are said not 
to beget, but females altogether.’’!® 


Speaking of the care of unreasoning creatures for their own 
safety and convenience, Basil says, ““When the sea urchin foresees 
a disturbance of the winds, it gets under a great pebble and, cling- 
ing to it as to an anchor, it tosses about in safety, retained by the 
weight, which prevents it from becoming the plaything of the 
waves.’’7°§ Aelian tells it thus: “The wave, rolling along the sea 
urchins toward the outer world and dashing them violently from 
the sea against dry land, casts them forth. But they, therefore, 
fearing this, when they perceive the waves heaving and about to 
rise up even stronger, with their spines lay hold of pebbles, which 
are easy to carry, and thus have a prop and are not easily rolled 
away, nor do they suffer what they feared.’?*’ Telling of the 
means of defense that wild creatures have, Basil expatiates upon 
the sea hare: “The sea hare is not less terrible, bearing with it 
swift and certain death.’’'®* Basil had been speaking of the sting 
ray, and probably had in mind some variety of the Portuguese 
man-of-war. Aelian gives it: “When the hare is sick, then being 
least able to swim, it is cast up on the beach, and whoever, being 

19476, B. τοὺς δὲ γῦπας φασὶν ἀσυνδυάστως τίκτειν ὡς τὰ πολλὰ καὶ 
ταῦτα μαχροβιωτάτους ὄντας. 

195 ΑτΠ4η, Hist. Anim., 11., 46. γῦπα δὲ ἄρρενα οὐ φασὶ γίνεσθαί ποτε, 
ἀλλὰ ϑηλείας ἁπάσας. 

19667, A. ὅς ὅταν προίδῃ ταραχὴν ἐξ ἀνέμων ψηφῖδά τινα ὑπελϑων 
γενναίαν ἐπ’ αὐτῆς ὥσπερ én’ ἀγκύρας βεβαίως σαλεύει κατεχόμενος τῷ 
βάρει πρὸς τὸ μὴ ρᾳδίως τοῖς κύμασιν ὑποσύρεσθαι. 

197 ΖΦ: ]Π14η, De Nat. Anim., VII., 33. τοὺς ἐχίνους ὁ κλύδων κυλίων ἐς 
τὰ ἔξω καὶ προσαρράττων τῷ Ξηρῷ τῆς ϑαλάσσης βιαιότατα. ἐκβάλλει τοῦτο 
τοίνυν ἐκεῖνοι δεδιότες ὅταν αἴσϑωνται Peittov τὸ κῦμα καὶ μέλλον ἁδρότερον 
ὑπταινίστασϑαι ταῖς ἀκάνϑαις ἀναιροῦνται λιϑίδια ὅσα εὔκολα ἐστὶ φέρειν 
αὐτοῖς καὶ ἔχουσιν ἕομα καὶ οὐ ραδίως κυλίονται οὐδὲ πάσχουσιν ὃ δεδοίκασιν. 

19869, C. καὶ λαγωὸς 6 ϑαλάσσιος οὐχ ἧττόν ἐστι φσβερὰ ταχεῖαν καὶ 
ἀπαραίτησαν τὴν φϑορὰν ἐπιφέροντα. 


106 


careless, is touched by it on the hand, perishes.”1°* A popular fal- 
lacy about the lamprey and the viper comes in for notice in the 
same section: ‘‘The viper, cruelest of reptiles, unites itself with the 
sea lamprey, and announces its arrival by hissing. It calls the 
lamprey from the depths of the sea to conjugal union.’’*°° Aelian 
tells it: “The lamprey, when it desires conjugal union, proceeds to 
the land, and is anxious to mate with an especially evil partner. 
For it repairs to the den of the viper.”*°* In connection with the 
calculations of animals upon future events, Basil states that “You 
may see flocks of vultures following armies and calculating the 
results of warlike preparations.’’*°? Aelian has it: “Vultures, in- 
deed, follow outgoing armies, knowing, as if by divination, that 
they are going to war, and that each fight results in dead men, and 
being aware of these things.”*°* The art of the bee is graphically 
presented : “See how the advances of geometry are but child’s play 
to the sagacious bee.”*°* Aelian expresses the thought briefly: 
“The bees exhibit geometry and other plans and suitable moulds 
of their own accord, without the art either of regular canons or 
the compass of the mathematicians.’’? 

Basil has a single instance probably from Aratus. Speaking of 
the new moon, he says, “If its horns appear thick and red, the 
weather portends for us heavy rains or a gale from the south.” 
The verses as Aratus gives them are: “With all bright, it is a sign 


199 Alian, Hist. Anim., XV., 19. ὅταν δὲ ἄρα νοσήσας ὅδε ὁ λαγωὸς 
εἶτα ἥκιστος Ov νήχεσϑαι ἐκβρασϑῇ πᾶς ὅστις ἂν αὐτοῦ προσάψηται τῇ χειρὶ 
ἀπόλλυται ἀμεληϑείς. 

20068, B. ᾿Ἔχιδνα τὸ χαλεπώτατον τῶν ἑρπετῶν πρὸς γάμον ἀπαντᾷ 
τῆς ϑαλασσίας μυραίνης καὶ συροριγμῷ τὴν παρουσίαν σημήνασα éxxadeitar 
αὐτὴν ἐκ τῶν βυϑῶν πρὸς γαμικὴν συμπλοκήν. 

201 ΤΠ] 4η, De Nat. Anim., L, 50. ‘H μύραινα ὅταν δομῆς ἀφροδίσου 
ὑποπλησϑῇ πρόεισιν ἐς τὴν γῆν καὶ ὁμιλίαν ποϑεῖ νυμφίου καὶ μάλα πονησοῦ. 
πάρεισι γὰρ εἰς ἔχεως φωλεόν. 

20278, C. Ἴδοις γὰρ ἂν μυρίας ἀγέλας γυπῶν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις 
παρεπομένας ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὅπλων παρασχευῆς τεχμαιρομένων τὴν ἔχβασιν. 

203 ΦΠΠ14πη, De Nat. Anim., II., 46. καὶ μέντοι καὶ ταῖς ἐκδήμοις στρατιαῖς 
ἕπονται γῦπες καὶ μάλα γε μαντικῶς ὅτι ἐς πόλεμον χωροῦσιν εἰδότες καὶ ὅτι 
μάχη πᾶσα ἐργάζεται νεκροὺς καὶ τοῦτο ἐγνωκότες. 

20474, D. κατάμαϑε πῶς τὰ τῆς γεωμετρίας εὑρέματα παρεργά ἐστι τῆς 
σοφωτάτης μελίσσης. 

205 7AElian, De Nat. Anim., V., 13. Γεωμετρίαν δὲ καὶ κάλλη σχημάτων 
καὶ ὡραίας πλάσεις αὐτῶν ἄνευ τέχνης te καὶ κανόνων καὶ τοῦ καλουμένου 
ὑπὸ τῶν σοφῶν διαβήτου ἀποδείκνυνται αἱ μέλιτται. 

206 53, C. παχεῖα δὲ ταῖς χεραίαις καὶ ὑπέρυϑρος φαινομένη ἢ ὕδωρ 
λάβρον ἀπὸ νεφῶν ἢ νότου βιαίαν κίνησιν ἀπειλεῖ. 


107 


of fair weather ; with a reddish sky the ways will be windy, but 
when dark in all quarters it is a sign of rain.’’?° 

Among late influences Plutarch’s ideas hold a place. Basil 
read Plutarch extensively, and effect is quite noticeable at times. 
For instance, “Those writing upon the nature of the world have 
written much about the shape of the earth. If it is spherical or 
cylindrical, if it resembles a perfect circle and is equally round at 
all points, or if it is like a winnowing basket or is hollow in the 
middle, . . . writers upon the world have suggested all these pos- 
sibilities, each destroying what went before him.’?°S Plutarch 
states the theories: “Thales and the Stoics, and those after them, 
thought that the earth is spherical. Anaximander, that the earth 
is formed in a stone cone of plane surfaces. Anaximenes, that it 
is flat like a table. Leucippus, that it is shaped like a drum. 
Democritus, that it is quoit shaped and hollow in the middle.”?” 
A theory of Empedocles is reviewed in the same manner. Basil 
says that “Rock crystal owes its metamorphosis to extreme con- 
gelation, they say.”*?° Plutarch writes: “Empedocles thought that 
the heavens were hardened from congealed air, crystallized by fire, 
the fiery nature and the airy nature circling around in either of the 
hemispheres.’’?*_ Another early thinker is brought in. Speaking 
of the tides, Basil says, “And the moon draws the sea back again 
by her own respiration, and then by her respiration forces it again 
to its own boundaries.”?!? Plutarch gives the origin of the 
opinion: “Pytheas, the Massilian, thought that the flood tides 

207 Aratus, Diosemeia, 70, ff. Πάντη γὰρ καϑαρῇ xe μάλ᾽ εὔδια 


τεχμήραιο. πάντα δ᾽ ἐρευϑομένῃ δοκέειν ἀνέμοιο κελεύϑους. ἄλλοϑι δ᾽ ἄλλο 
μελαινομένῃ δοκέειν ὑετοῖο. 

208 89, C. Οὐδὲ ἐπειδὴ οἱ τὰ περὶ κόσμου γράψαντες πολλὰ περὶ σχημάτων 
γῆς διελέχϑησαν εἴτε σφαϊραἔστιν εἴτε κύλινδρος εἴτε καὶ δίσκῳ ἐστὶν 
ἐμφερὴς ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἐξίσου πάντοϑεν ἀποτετόρνυται, ἢ λικνοειδής ἐστι καὶ 
μεσόχοιλος πρὸς πάσας γὰρ ταύτας τὰς ὑπονοίας οἱ τὰ περὶ τοῦ κόσμου 
γράψαντες ὑπηνέχϑησαν τὰ ἀλλήλων ἕκαστος καταλύοντες. 

209 Plutarch, De Plac. Philosophorum, III., 10. Θαλῆς καὶ οἱ Στωικοὶ 
καὶ οἱ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν σφαιροειδῆ τὴν γῆν. ᾿Αναξίμανδρος λίϑῳ κίονι τὴν γῆν 
προσφερῆ τῶν ἐπιπέδων. ᾿Αναξιμένης τραπεζοεδῆ. Λεύκιππος τυμπανοειδῆ. 
Δημόκριτος δισχοειδή μὲν τῷ πλάτει κοίλην δὲ τῷ μέσῳ. 

21026, B. ὁποία ἐστὶν ἤ τε τοῦ κρυστάλλου λίϑου ὃν δι’ ὑπεοβάλλουσιν 
τοῦ ὕδατος πῆξιν μεταποιεῖσϑαί φασιν. 

211 Plutarch, De Plac. Philosophorum, II., 11. ᾿Εμπεδοχλῆς στερέμνιον 
εἶναι τὸν οὐρανὸν ἐξ ἀέρος συμπαγέντος ὑπὸ πυρὸς κρυσταλλοειδῶς τὸ 
πυρῶδες καὶ τὸ ἀερῶδες ἐν ἑκατέρῳ τῶν ἡμισφαιρίων περιέχοντα. 

21261, C. Καὶ πάλιν ταῖς ἀπ’ αὐτῆς ἐκχπνοίαις εἰς τὸ οἰκεῖον μέτρον 
προωϑουμένη. 


108 


occurred from the increase of the moon toward full and the ebb 
from its decrease.’’*1* Pytheas was apparently the first man who 
connected the influence of the moon with tidal movements. 
Another trace of Plutarch appears in the following: “The tortoise, 
indeed, when it is gorged with the flesh of the viper, escapes harm 
from the venomous animal through the power of marjoram.’’** 
Plutarch says explicitly that “Tortoises eat marjoram when bit- 
ten by a snake, and wild rue also, and so do civets.”** Basil 
touches a common idea concerning ants when he says, “You may 
be certain that you will not see rain fall from the sky so long as 
the ant has left out its grain.”** The idea that ants carried out 
their hoarded grain and spread it on the ground to dry, when they 
feared it might mould, was common. Plutarch says, “Aratus 
makes this a sign of rain, ‘And the ants bring in more quickly from 
without all the seeds of the hollow food.’ And some do not write 
seeds, but grains, as referring to hoarded fruits. For when the 
ants find the collected grain damp, and they fear its decay and 
change, they bear it out. And the anticipation of the sprouting of 
the wheat surpasses all the forethought of intelligence.”*47 The 
action of the moon’s rays is a matter for comment: “Observe how 
fresh meat is soon spoiled under the action of the moon.”?'® 
Plutarch says, “By far the greater part of what is gathered is 
changed by the moon, and it is difficult to decide concerning the 
eause.. 7"? 

The development of earthly things before the creation of the 
sun is a theory Plutarch credits to Empedocles. Basil writes, “If 

213 Plutarch, De Plac. Philosophorum, III., 17. Πυϑέας 6 Μασσαλιώτης 
τῇ πληρώσει τῆς σελήνης τὰς πλημμύρας yiveodar τῇ δὲ μειώσει τὰς 
ἀμπώτιδας. 

214 82, A. Χελώνη δὲ σαρχῶν ἐχίδνης ἐμφορηϑεῖσα διὰ τῆς τοῦ ὀριγάνου 
ἀντιπαϑείας φεύγει τὴν βλάβην τοῦ ἰοβόλου. 


215 Plutarch, De Soll. Anim., 974, Ὁ. Χελῶναι μὲν ὀρίγανον γαλαῖ δὲ 
πήγανον ὅταν ὄφεως φάγωσιν ἐπεϑίουσι. 

21683, A. ᾿Αμέλει οὐκ ἂν ἴδοις ὄμβρον ἐκ νεφῶν ἐπιρρυέντα mao’ ὅσον 
χρόνον ἐκ τῶν μυρμήκων ὁ σῖτος προβέβληται. 

217 Plutarch, De Soll. Anim., 967, F. ὑετοῦ ποιεῖται σημεῖον ὁ “Agatos. 
ἢ κοίλης μύρμηκες ὀχῆς ἐξ dea πάντα ϑᾶσσον ἀνηνέγχαντο. καὶ τινες οὐκ 
@a γράφουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰ ὡς τοὺς ἀποκειμένους καρποὺς ὅταν εὑρῶτα 
συνάγοντες αἴσϑωνται καὶ φοβηϑῶσι φϑορὰν καὶ σῆψυιν ἀναφερόντων. 
ὑπερβάλλει δὲ πᾶσαν ἐπίνοιαν συνέσεως Hh τοῦ πυροῦ τῆς βλαστήσεως 
προκατάληψις. 

21861, Β. καὶ τὰ νεοφαγῆῇ τῶν κρεῶν ταχὺ πρεπόμενα τῇ προσβολῇ τῆς 
σελήνης. 

219 Plutarch, Quest. Conv., III., 10. ἄλλον ἔφη πολὺ μείζονα κομιζόμενον 
ὑπὸ τῆς σελήνης διαφϑαρῆναι καὶ σφόδρα ye περὶ τῆς αἰτίας διαπορεῖν. 


109 


they are sure that the earth was adorned before the genesis of the 
sun, they ought to withdraw their vast admiration for the sun, 
because they believe that plants and grasses vegetated before it 
rose.”*° He refers to pagan philosophers who had professed 
admiration for the sun, and Plutarch, in discussing Empedocles, 
says, ““Empedocles says that the trees were the first of living 
things to spring from the earth, before the sun rose and before 
day and night were divided.” A Stoic theory comes also to note: 
“Tt is just as impious to say that evil originates from God.’’?? 
Basil has been discussing one variety of error, and here turns to 
another, which Plutarch charges to the Stoics.?** The opinions of 
most ancient philosophers were well and freely misrepresented by 
friend and foe alike, and it is always difficult to judge them with 
certainty. Speaking of the skill in tracking displayed by a dog, 
Basil says that after scenting one of different trails he can know- 
ingly take the right one: “What more is done by those who, 
philosophically occupied in theorizing, draw lines in the dust, re- 
jecting two propositions to show that the third is true?”?** Such 
sophists, the saint contends, show no more intelligence than the 
dog, if as much, for after scenting trails he picks the right one, as 
it is the only one to follow, while the sophists, rejecting all theories 
except the one that they had beforehand decided to accept, must 
needs come to it at last. Plutarch tells stories of quibbles used 
by the sophists on the same point.?* Basil endeavors to explain 
the theory of sight: “Objects lose size in our sight when at a very 
great distance, because the sight can not clear the intermediate dis- 
tance and is, as it were, exhausted in the middle of its rush, and 

220 40, B. ᾽Εὰν ἄρα πεισϑῶσιν ὅτι πρὸ τῆς ἐκείνου γενέσεως τὰ περὶ τὴν 


γῆν πάντα διαχεκόσμητο καὶ τοῦ ἀμέτρου περὶ αὐτὸν ϑαύματος καϑυφῶσιν 
ἐνθυμηϑέντες ὅτι χόρτου καὶ βοτάνης νεώτερος ἐστι κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν. 

221 Plutarch, De Placi. Philosophorum, V., 910, C. ᾿Εμπεδοχλῆς πρῶτα 
τὰ δένδρα τῶν ζῷων ἐκ γῆς ἀναδῦναί φησι, πρὶν τὸν ἥλιον περιαπλωϑῆναι καὶ 
πρὶν ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα διαχριϑῆναι. 

22216, C. Od μὴν οὐδὲ παρὰ ϑεοῦ τὸ καχὸν τὴν γένεσιν ἔχειν εὐσεβές 
ἐστι λέγειν. 

228 Cf. Plutarch, Stoicos, 1976. In this section Plutarch lays this error 
to the Stoics’ account, but it is not certain that they ever said it or that it 
was their opinion. 

22484 C. τί περισσότερον ποιοῦσιν οἱ ἐπὶ τῶν διαγραμμάτων σεμνῶς 
καϑεζόμενοι καὶ τὴν κόνιν καταχαράσσοντες τριῶν προτάσεων ἀναιροῦντες 
τὰς δύο καὶ ἐν τῇ λειπομένῃ τὸ ἀληϑὲς ἐξευρίσχοντες. 

225 Plutarch, De Sollertia Anim., 726, ff. Most of these quibbles, which 
consisted in sleight of hand tricks, or verbal plays that confused the hearer, 
are too well known to need mention. 


110 


only a fraction of it gets to its visible object.”?** Plutarch gives 
the idea as if it were really due to Plato: “Plato said that we see 
by the sunaugeia ; that there was a flow of rays from the eye of a 
human being at a certain time through the air, and an outflow of 
rays from the object seen. This flow was easily dissolved midway 
in the air, and it was co-extensive or otherwise along with any 
inflammation of the eyes. It was called the Platonic sunaugeia.”??* 
Plutarch’s idea is confused, but he has approximately the same 
idea that Basil is trying to state. 

A fair instance of the indirect way in which connections will 
sometimes appear is found in this remark. “For may not some 
word be found,” says Basil, “a healer for such misfortune ?’’??8 
While Plutarch dwells upon the thought of words being healers, 
thus, “For words are like healers of a sick soul, when one’s heart 
is weakened at a critical time.”**® The thought is the same, but 
it has traveled through a very roundabout channel. Basil, as a 
regular reader of Plutarch, might be expected to give much from 
Plutarch and to refer to many ideas that Plutarch had formu- 
lated. His rendering of the thought would almost necessarily be 
less accurate than that of the earlier writer, and Plutarch is never 
celebrated for accuracy. Basil seldom tries to give the account as 
he got it, but rather to reproduce it as effectively and fluently as 
possible, and arrange the ideas to suit the case in hand. This 
destroys most of the possibilities for connecting instances. 


A single case occurs that may have been taken from Marcus 
Aurelius, but like most of the other ideas upon moralizing, it lies 
open to doubt because of Basil’s tendency to preach religion into 
all his compositions. He expatiates in the Hexaemeron upon the 
necessity of considering one’s misfortunes not as injuries, but as 
helps on the road of moral perfection: “Sickness and poverty, 
obscurity, death, and in short, all human evils should be regarded 
really not as evils, because the things which are their opposites are 


22659, B. Συναιρεῖσϑαι yao πέφυκεν ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις διαστήμασι τὰ 
μεγέϑη τῶν ὁρωμένων τῆς ὁρατικῆς δυνάμεως οὐκ ἐξικνουμένης τὸν μεταξὺ 
τόπον διαπερᾷν ἀλλ᾽ οἱονεὶ ἐν δαπανωμένης τῷ μέσῳ καὶ κατ᾽ ὀλίγον αὐτῆς 
μέρος προσβαλλούσης τοῖς ὁρατοῖς. ; 

227 Plutarch, De Placitis Philosophorum, IV., 13. Πλάτων κατὰ συναύ- 
γειαν TOU μὲν ἐκ τῶν ὀφϑαλμῶν φωτὸς ἐπὶ ποσὸν ἀπορρέοντος εἰς τὸν ὁμογενῆ 
ἀέρα τοῦ δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν σωμάτων φερομένου τοῦ δὲ περὶ τὸν μεταξὺ ἀέρα 
εὐδιάχυτον ὄντα καὶ εὔτρεπτον συνεκτεινομένου τῷ πυρώδει τῆς ὄψεως. αὕτη 
λέγεται πλατονικὴ συναύγεια. 

228 Letter 29. τὶς γὰρ ἂν καὶ λόγος εὑρεϑείη τοσαύτης συμφορᾶς ἰατρός; 

229 Plutarch, De Consolatione, Consolatio ad Apollonium. ψυχῆς γὰρ 
νοσούσης εἰσὶν ἰατροὶ λόγοι ὅταν tis ἐν καιρῷ ye μαλϑάσσῃ κέαρ. 


111 


not rated as unmitigated good.”**° In a very general way the 
same ideas appear in the works of Marcus Aurelius.?** Other dim 
resemblances could be traced out in different passages, and just 
as Basil approaches Marcus Aurelius, he also seems to touch upon 
the works of Epictetus and similar moralizing writers. But these 
similarities are vague. The general rules of the Christian religion 
would be preached in any case, and in many points they resembled 
the doctrines of the better pagan philosophers. The efforts of the 
Stoics and other moralists were vague and cloudy and offered but 
little ground for comparison with the strong light of revealed 
faith. 

In the use of the philosophers, or such persons as can generally 
be classed among the philosophers, according to the ancient con- 
ception of philosophy, it would seem that the greatest borrowings 
are from Plato. Most of the Fathers, both Latin and Greek, were 
strong admirers of Plato, and found much in his writings which 
approached the Christian ideals, and they found these doctrines 
beautifully expressed. With good reason they liked him. In 
Aristotle, Basil has an influence far less direct than that of Plato, 
and yet Aristotle has had a force in Basil’s writings which is very 
important. It is all the more to be considered for the fact that 
Aristotle’s powerful thought and far reaching influence are so 
subtile. Of the other thinkers the influences are far to seek. 
Basil read Plutarch freely. He also read many of the earlier 
philosophers, and he doubtless knew their lives. Diogenes Laertius 
has the only record on a general scale of the careers of these men. 
Some remarks may be referred to Diogenes Laertius with at least 
the right to give him the greater degree of probability, but the case 
is simply one that cannot be sure. Basil’s debt to the Greek 
philosophers then is very large. It is in no doubt. The literary 
obligations are mainly to Plato. Other men were used only as 
occasion demanded, and irregular citations give little clue to their 
literary bearing either upon Basil or such men as may have in- 
fluenced him. In the vaguer class of usages Basil’s expressions 
are always open to various uncertainties because of his many 
other associations, and a shadow of doubt must attach to any 
evidence of connections. 

23017, B. Νόσον yao καὶ πενίαν καὶ ἀδοξίαν καὶ ϑάνατον καὶ ὅσα λυπηρὰ 
τοῖς ἀνθρώποις οὔπω καὶ ἐν τῇ μοίρᾳ τῶν κακῶν καταλογίζεσϑαι ἄξιον διὰ 


τὸ μηδὲ τὰ ἀντικείμενα τούτοις ἐν τοῖς μεγίστοις ἡμᾶς τῶν ἀγαϑῶν ἀοριϑμεῖν. 
231 Cf, Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, II., 11, ff 


CONCLUSION 


Fourth century learning was on the dividing line between 
Christianity and Paganism. A little before Basil’s time educa- 
tion wa; almost all pagan; a few years later it had become Chris- 
tian, atd imperial edicts had closed the schools to pagan pro- 
fessors. The readings and studies open to a fourth century student 
are fairly well exemplified in the display of his erudition that Basil 
exhibits. Various universities and libraries in turn had exerted 
their influence upon Hellenism and its literature, and the passing 
nations had successively given their contributions. Jewish traders, 
who made up nearly one-seventh of the population of Egypt at this 
period, and Alexandrian scholars who labored with the resources 
of the Ptolemies, had played their part in affecting the language 
and literature that prevailed in their age. Basil is a product of 
the century. 

His employment of Greek authors is such as might be expected 
of a rhetorician of his time and accomplishments. He shows a 
knowledge of more important writers, based upon thorough ex- 
amination. His employment is everywhere that of a friendly and 
intelligent critic. At no time does he formally condemn either 
the pagan classics or the study of them. The distinctions that he 
makes are no more sharp and severe than had been made by Plato. 
Intelligent discrimination is his rule. There is, then, no ground 
for suspecting that he was an enemy to classical learning, and 
every reason for believing that he was its champion. 

His education was obtained at the pagan university of Athens, 
and the works of pagan writers formed the curriculum. For four 
or five years Basil read and studied these books with a zeal and 
intelligence that drew attention and compliments from all teachers. 
His ready reference to the productions of the old masters, and his 
insight into their spirit are evident. In view of these facts alone, 
his attitude toward the pagan classics would seem to need no 
explanation. But in his Speech to the Youths, Basil reinforced 
his almost obvious stand by direct statement, saying in so many 


112 


118 

words that when the pagan writers teach what is good, and noble, 
and true, they are to be read, while if they teach vice they must 
be shunned. There exists no more explicit declaration of the 
right position of the classics in education than this. Every edu- 
cator from Plato down has maintained similar views. “If anyone,” 
says Basil, “praises the good thus, we will listen to his words with 
satisfaction, for our objects are in common.” And again, “Thus, 
then, we shall be influenced by those writings of pagan authors 
which have an exposition of virtue.” His stand is clear enough. 
The pagan classics have a place in Christian education, and when 
properly selected and intelligently taught and received, their in- 
fluence in education is beneficial and necessary. 


It was but natural that he should champion the classics, for he 
understood them. He could admire them, for he appreciated the 
great minds that had produced them, and he had a true sense of 
their power and worth. As he had no thought of appearing as a 
formal literary critic, the remarks that give an index to his views 
of Greek literature are of necessity scattered and casual, yet none 
the less they ring true, and time, while confirming most, has not 
changed one of them. 


From the consideration of the poets, the following points are 
reasonable inferences: There are twenty-eight instances, all told, 
leading up to epic poems, while but nine appear in lyric, and eight 
in dramatic verse. Epic verse had taken the strongest grasp upon 
his mind, with lyric and dramatic about an even second, for the 
difference between the two is too slight for consideration. The 
overwhelmingly preponderant reputation of Homer accounts for 
the first case. But, considering lyric and dramatic verse together, 
and in view of the vast bulk of plays that had been produced, one 
might have expected a wider range of dramatic reminiscence from 
such a scholar. It is an established fact that with the later Greeks 
Euripides was the popular dramatist. He was the materialist, the 
scoffer even. He was read almost to the complete exclusion of 
Aeschylus and Sophocles. Basil does not even name Sophocles 
and gives Aeschylus but passing mention, drawing almost all his 
real dramatic references from Euripides. It shows how well 
Basil followed the canons of his age, and how truly he may be 
judged a fair representative of it. Still, this does not account for 
the small number of dramatic references. But in this considera- 
tion a significant fact occurs. In the first chapter of his Life of 
St. Macrine Gregory of Nyssa, is discoursing upon Basil’s early 


114 


education and laying stress upon the predominant religious phases. 
He says that when the Greek poets were read the noble sentiments 
of tragedy were commended, while comic poetry was banned, and 
its indecent or irreligious points held up to horror. This is a very 
interesting statement and perhaps accounts for the fact that Basil, 
who gives evidence of being so widely read in other Greek litera- 
ture, and who quoted freely from authors in many other fields, 
does not quote from comedy and makes no reference to known 
comedians. But if comedy were subtracted from the body of 
dramatic writings, the bulk of the total would be largely reduced 
and the range of possible quotations would be very much lessened. 
So, if it is considered that Euripides occupied the attention of 
dramatic readers, to the great detriment of Aeschylus and 
Sophocles, and that comic writers were absolutely excluded, the 
small number of Basil’s dramatic references may be in some meas- 
ure explained. 


His other literary views among the poets are very clear. “As- 
suredly we want some Simonides or like poet,’ he says, when 
indulging in a condolence, “to bewail our misfortunes from per- 
sonal experience, but why name Simonides? I would rather men- 
tion Aeschylus, or any other who has set forth a great calamity 
in words like his, and uttered lamentations with a mighty voice.” 
The verses of Simonides bewailed Greeks killed in the Persian 
wars. The characterization of Aeschylus is excellent. Basil ac- 
cords popularity and high motives to Hesiod when he says that 
Hesiod’s verses are sung by everyone: ‘What else can we sup- 
pose Hesiod had in mind in making those verses that are sung by 
everyone, if not to exhort the youthful to virtue?” He mentions 
the Margites, long attributed to Homer, expressing a doubt that 
the production is truly Homeric. Modern criticism has agreed 
with his doubt and definitely separated the work from real 
Homeric verse. 

Basil’s use of quotation is strictly rhetorical and subservient to 
the needs of the case in hand, the verse being given accurately 
where possible and in a loose manner when memory fails. His use 
of the poets is effective and in some instances accurate. His read- 
ing would seem to have been very wide, and it indicates an ac- 
quaintance with some of the first figures of Greek literature. The 
friendly way in which he regards them is shown fairly in the use 
and criticism that he makes of them. 

His usages of history and of historical events is that of a 


115 


rhetor who pretended to no scientific knowledge of history, but 
who employed historic incidents as tales that adorn a speech when 
well and dramatically introduced. He gives no clue as to where 
he gets them, but leaves that out as a matter of no importance in 
the case at hand. His use, therefore, is never precise, nor can it 
be called either definite or informative. 


In considering philosophical ideas it must be remembered that 
certain forms of thought are common to many schools, and have 
survived through centuries, and have been used by so many men 
and in so many systems that assigning them a definite place is next 
to impossible. Basil, who was well read in philosophy and who 
shows traces of a wide knowledge of the very early thinkers, has 
hints of many forms of philosophy and many systems of thought. 
In his use of the philosophers Aristotle, Pythagoras and others are 
mentioned, but Plato is the outstanding figure. The obligations to 
Plato are more evident than those to other thinkers, for Plato was 
also one of the great literary lights. Of the Greek prose writers 
and, most of all, of the philosophers, there was not one who was 
so poetical and imaginative, or who was so elevated in theories 
and brilliant in delineations as Plato. Without question the more 
elaborate passages of oratory approach closer to poetry than any- 
thing else in prose. And Basil was at one time a teacher of 
rhetoric. So a certain easily recognized literary kinship existed 
between his field and the bright imagery of Plato’s fancies. The 
poetical flights of the Greek appealed to Basil’s sensitive mind and 
vivid imagination, and the philosopher’s diction was at once a 
model and a despair to succeeding imitators. Ifthe saint’s attitude 
toward Plato could be gauged merely by the number of times that 
he names him, this alone would show how much preference Basil 
gave him. Basil makes a shrewd characterization in this remark: 
“Your good taste has perceived that those pagan philosophers who 
wrote dialogues, Aristotle and Theophrastus, went straight at the 
matter, knowing that they were not possessed of the graceful style 
of Plato.” The criticism is just. The respective styles of the 
extant works of Aristotle and Plato are too well known to need 
comparison. The lesser philosophers are of small importance in a 
literary way, and the fragments of their works which exist leave 
little trace for study of literary abilities or tendencies. 

In Attic literature the only men whom Basil seems to have left 
out of his ready references are the Attic orators. A mention, 
indeed, is made of Demosthenes. But Antiphon, Andocides, 


116 


Lysias and others, who were widely and favorably known, do not 
appear. The great predominance of the sophistic rhetoric of his 
own day had undoubtedly much to do with this situation. But an 
orators’ works do not lead themselves to quotation so readily as 
the verses of the poets and the apothegms of the philosophers. 

The extent of his knowledge of Greek literature is evinced by 
his citation of names and of well known authors. He names 
thirteen men whose works have come down to us, prominent 
among whom are Homer, Hesiod, Theognis, Plato, Aristotle and 
Demosthenes. He names ten philosophers whose works have per- 
ished, or survive only in fragments, or who have left no regularly 
recorded works, citing such figures as Anaximander, Anaximenes, 
Democritus, Leucippus, Empedocles and Xenophanes, of Colo- 
phon. He gives anecdotes readily connected with Xenophon, 
Plutarch, Thucydides and Herodotus. In short, the range of his 
ready references takes in almost the whole sweep of Greek litera- 
ture and leaves no room to doubt that he did not know his classics 
thoroughly. Basil’s use of literary adornment, and figures, and 
citations is, in general, decidedly sparing,’ and far from the ex- 
treme developments of such men as St. Chrysostom.? There is no 
passage in Basil in which it does not appear that he could have 
said more if he had wished. But rather there is a trace of re- 
ticence, and a use of classic allusion in a way graceful and effec- 
tive instead of showy. It proves that he not only understood the 
classic spirit of moderation, but acted upon it. 

Among other Fathers of the Eastern Church, Basil stands out 
prominently in his views of education. While not one of them 
was opposed ina blind and destructive way to pagan learning, not 
one took the extremely enlightened and advanced position that 
Basil assumed. In his theory of education Basil favored the 
rational study of the pagan classics. Some of the Fathers were 
undecided, and their attacks upon pagan writers gave the impres- 
sion that they were unalterably opposed to the whole theory of 
pagan literature, from which it would follow, of course, that its 
use in the schools is to be condemned. St. Chrysostom, by his 
violent invectives against the vice and error of paganism, has long 
been thought an enemy of Greek classicism from every angle.’ 


1Cf. Campbell, J. M., Influence of the Second Sophistic upon the Ser- 
mons of St. Basil the Great. 

2 Cf. Ameringer, T., Stylistic Influence of the Second Sophistic on the 
Panegyrical Sermons of St. John Chrysostom. 

3 Cf. Negele, A., Johannos Chrysostomos und sein Verhaltnis zum 
Hellenismus. 


117 


The falsity of such impressions is well established. But in con- 
tradistinction to the men who were not so outspoken, Basil’s stand 
is clear. His education at the pagan university of Athens alone 
would give an index to his ideas upon the question of education, 
and the readiness with which, in contrast to the other Fathers, 
he grasped the non-christian writings, and selected from them 
such as suited the christian purposes of education, training and 
philosophy of life, indicates satisfactorily how favorably and 
logically he considered the case of the classics in education. His 
viewpoint was certainly the most enlightened of his time, and de- 
serves especial mention in an age when paganism was dying and 
christianity wavering whether or not to accept the heritage of 
beauty, thought and culture bequeathed to it by the civilization that 
was passing away. ᾿ 

Basil’s acquaintance with pagan literature is that of an under- 
standing friend, not blind to its worse qualities, but by no means 
condemning the whole on that account. His use is rhetorical and 
sophistic. He quotes the poets and paraphrases their famous lines 
and expressions. He tells the stories that the historians had made 
celebrated. He knows the names and theories of the philosophers. 
He employs each and every one as the oratorical occasion de- 
mands, but never in a hostile or bigoted manner. Examination of 
Basil’s works makes these points evident. At no time does he 
formally condemn or reject the pagan classics. Whenever his sub- 
ject permits he uses them in an elaborate and sympathetic way, 
and with evident understanding of their spirit and purpose. It 
follows that he was in every sense a true friend to the better pro- 
ductions of pagan literature. 


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INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED BY, OR CONNECTED 
WITH, ST. BASIL 


Aelian. Heraclitus. 
Hist. Anim., 101, 105, 106 Fragments, 70 
Aeschylus. Herodotus. 
Prometheus Bound, 61 Histories, 57, 58, 50, 60, 61, 62 
Seven against Thebes, 27 Hesiod. 
Aesop. Works and Days, 33, 34 
Fables, 54, 55 Homer. 
Alcman. Homeric Hymns, 35 
Lyrics, Fragments, 30 Iliad, 35, 36, 37 
Anaxagoras. Odyssey, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41 
Fragments, 82 
Anaximander. Julian. 
Fragments, 72, 107 Misopogon, 32 
Anaximenes. Justin Martyr. 
Fragments, 107 Dialogue with Trypho, 9 
Archilochus. Second Apology, 9 
Lyrics, Fragments, 30 ᾿ 
Aratus. Lucian. 
Diosemeia, 106, 108 Heromotimus, 48 
Aristophanes. ἱ 
Acarnians, 28 Marcus Aurelius. 
Clouds, 28, 69 Meditations, 110 
Knights, 59 Menander, 54 
Wich 49 Pausanias. 
ΡΟΝ Description of Greece, 67 
Categories, 86 Plato 


Constitution of Athens, 66 


De Abies 80 Axiochus, 76 


Cratylus, 80 
De Caelo, 82, 83, 84 ippias, 
Deven. Ani. £4. 65, ἰοῦ eae 


De Incessu Ani., 102 

De Respiratione, 96 aeluadeie " 

Hist. Anim., 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, πα πε supa: Sa 
97, 98, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104 Timaeus, 78,79 ὁ 

Metaphysics, 87, 89, 90 Booen te 

Meteorologica, 82, 85, ΟἹ : 


Nichomachean Ethics, 89, 87, 88, i Oe a αὐ é ae tee 


Lives, 63, 64, 65 


Pei 
Part, Anim., 93, 96, 97 Quaest, Conv., 108 


See De Consolatione, 110 
ie 34 Pracepta Ger. Rei, 66 
olitics, 90 Prodicus of Ceos, 69 
Rhetoric, 87, 88 Pythagoras, 84 
Bion. Simonides. 
Pastorals, 30 Lyrics, Fragments, 27 
Strabo. 


Clement of Alexandria. 
Exhortation to the Greeks, 13, 14 


Demosthenes, 66 
Diogenes Laertius. 


Geography, 73 


Thales the Milesian. 
Fragments, 83 


Lives of the Philosopher, 70, 71, αὐ ee ee ΣὝΚΣΟΝΝ 
E a 7; Theophrastus. 
(ts Bae eathee Philosophy, 86 
Fragments, 107 Thucydides. 
Epictetus. History of the Peloponnesian 
σὰς ὐρλ μὰ War, 62, 63 
Euripides. ieee 
Bacchae, 29 Xenophanes of Colophon, 84 
Hippolytus, 28 ‘Xenophon. _ 
Rhesus, 29 Memorabilia, 67 


119 


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GENERAL INDEX 


Aburgius, 35, 40 

Academy, 76 

Achelous, 38 

Achilles, 35, 63 

Adrastus, 58 

Aegon, 90 

Aelian, 75, IOI, 105, 106. 

Aeschylus, 27, 42, 113, 114 

Aesop, 54, 55 

Aethiopian, 90 

Alcinous, 37, 39 

Alcman, 30, 42 

Alcmaeon, 62 

Alexander the Great, 46, 52, 63, 64 

Alexandria, 9, 12, 15, 21 

Allard, 11 

Alpheus, 53 

Amasis, 94 

Amphiaraus, 51, 62 

Amphilochius, 70 

Amphilochus, 51 

Anaxagoras, 82 

Anaximander, 72, 107, 116 

Anaximenes, 82, 107, 116 

Andocides, 115 

Andronicus, 58 

Annesi, 18, 25, 104 

Antioch, 12 

Antipater, 35, 40, 49 

Antiphon, 115 

Antisthenes, 13 

Aphrodite, 35 

Apollinares, 12 

Apollo, 51, 52, 62 

Aratus, 13, 106, 108 

Archilochus, 30, 42 

Archimedes, 21 

Arganthonius, 35, 60 

Ariadne, 65 

Arimaspi, 61 

Aristophanes, 28, 42, 49, 59, 69 

Aristotle, 2, 3, 24, 34, 49, 66, 74, 75, 
77, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 
91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 
IOI, 102, 103, 104, III, 115, 116 

Asianism, 10, 11, 16 

Athena, 49 

Athos, 57 

Atomists, 70 

Atticism, 14, 15 

Augustine, 4 


Bardenhewer, 22 
Basil of Raphanea 
Bias the Sage, 48, 72 


Bion, 30, 42 

Bito, 62 

Book of Proverbs, 92 
Brennus, 65 

Bucolici Graeci, 30 
Byzantium, 19 


Calypso, 39 

Cambyses, 59 
Camillus, 65 
Candidianus, 55, 66, 77 
Capitol, 65 

Carthage, 12 

Caspian Sea, 73 
Castaly, 51 

Ceadas, 62, 63 
Censitorus, 49 
Cephallenians, 41 
Chilo, 48 

Chinese, 92 
Chremetes, 90 

Christ, Wilhelm von, 20 
Chrysippus, 86 
Cleanthes, 13, 71 
Cleinas, 44, 45 
Clement of Alexandria, 13 
Cleobis, 62 

Cleobulus, 48 
Corybantes, 51 
Croesus, 58, 68 
Cronos, 35, 67 
Crotona, 50 

Cyrus the Great, 58 


Daedalus, 52 

Danaids, 52 

Danaus, 52 

Darius, 63, 85, 86 

Delphi, 51 

Democritus, 72, 82, 84, 107, 116 

Demonicus, 92 

Demosthenes, 7, 10, 21, 24, 66, 115, 
116 

Diels, 69 

Diocletian, 18 

Diodorus, 54, 77 

Diogenes the Cynic, 44, 45, 46 

Diogenes Laertius, 1, 46, 66, 70, 71, 
72, 73, III 

Dionysius, 70, 71 

Dorgens, 20 


Echinades, 62 
Edessa, 12 
Egypt, 9, 56, 59, 68, 86, 91 


121 


122 


Egyptian Thebes, 94 

Elias, 64 

Emmelia, 18 

Empedocles, 73, 107, 108, τοῦ, 116 

Eos, 34, 35 

Epictetus, 111 

Epicureans, 70 

Eratosthenes, 21 

Eteocles, 27 

Euclid, 21, 44, 47, 64, 65 

Eucratites, 70 

Eunomius, 56 . 

Euripides, 7, 14, 15, 28, 29, 42, 43, 51, 
54, 113, 114 

Eusebius the bishop, 24, 25, 37 

Eusebius the eccles. historian, 9 

Eustathius, 15, 30, 47, 54 


Galen, 21 

Gregory of Nazianzus, 18, 19, 20, 23, 
35, 49, 55, 62 

Gregory of Nyssa, 18, 23, 113 

Gregory Thaumaturgus, 18 


Hecate, 51, 54 

Hellenism, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 20 

Hephaistus, 35 

Hercules, 38, 44, 46, 67 

Heraclitus, 70 

Herodotus, 7, 21, 35, 52, 57, 58, 59, 
60, 61, 62, 67, 68, 74, 85, 94, 116 

Hesiod, 14, 20, 32, 33, 34, 42, 43, 116 

Hesiod the philosopher, 66 

Hesperus, 30 

Himerius, 15, 21, 24 

Homer, 7, 14, 20, 21, 24, 34, 36, 37, 
39, 40, 42, 43, 113, 114, 116 

Hyades, 35 

Hymetius, 53 

Hyrcanian Sea, 73 


Icarus, 52 

India, 59 

Indian Ocean, 74 
Tsaias, 35, 38, 53, 56, 59 
Isocrates, 10, 21, 92 
Ithaca, 40 


Job, 50 

John Chrysostom, 4, 23, 49, 116 
Julian, 11, 12, 32 

Justin Martyr, 9, 12, 13 


Labyrinth, 65 
Laestrygonians, 41 
Lalanne, 12 
Leontius, 23, 24, 56 
Leucippus, 107, 116 
Libanius, 15, 19, 20, 22, 24, 37, 40, 50, 
52, 53, 57, 65, 78 
Lothholz, 20 
Lucian, 48 
Lydia, 58, 59, 68 
Lysias, 10, 21, 116 


Macrine, 18 

Maenads, 29 

Marcus Aurelius, 2, 110, 111 
Margites, 34, 43, 114 
Marsyas, 52 

Martinianus, 27, 29, 35, 39, 62, 66 
Mauretanians, 74 
Maximus, 41, 46, 48, 71 
Menander, 54 

Milan, 12 

Milo, 50, 67 

Musaeus, 99 


Neco, 85 
Neocaesarea, 18, 26 
Niebuhr, 20 
Nisibis, 12 

Nyses, 90 


Odysseus, 23, 37, 39, 40, 41, 43 
Olympius, 45, 55 

Orion, 35 

Orpheus, 14, 29 


Pactolus, 59 . 

Pausanias the historian, 67 

Pausanias, a Spartan general, 63 

Persephone, 38 

Pentheus, 29 

Pericles, 44, 47, 63, 64 

Peter of Sebaste, 18 

Phasis, 80 

Pheacians, 37, 40 

Phoenicians, 56, 57 

Phidias, 48, 53 

Philip the Acarnian, 64 

Pindar, 20 

Pittacus, 71, 72 

Plato, 1, 7, 9, 12, 13, 21, 24, 54,73, 74, 
75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 86, 
110, ΤΠ 112, 113, 11S, τῶ τὴ 

Pleiades, 35, 96 

Plutarch, 2, 47, 63, 64, 65, 68, 105, 
107, 108, 100, 110, 116 

Podandus, 62 

Polycleitus, 53 

Polydamas, 50 

Polyneices, 27 

Pontus, 95, 98 

Prodicus of Ceos, 1, 69 

Prohairesius, 15, 21 

Proteus, 38 

Psalmennitus, 50, 94 

Psammetichus, 85 

Ptolemies, 15, 21, 112 

Pyrrhus, 65, 66 

Pythagoras, 45, 48, 82, 84, 115 

Pythagoreans, 44, 45, 84, 89 

Pytheas the Massilian, 107, 108 

Pythius, 57, 58 


Rome, 12 


Samosata, 36 
Sardanapauls, 34, 53 


128 


Schafer, 22 

Scholl, 25 

Scylla, 41 

Scythia, 61 

Second Sophistic, 10, 11 

Seeck, von, 22 

Selene, 30, 54 

Sesostris, 85 

Simonides, 27, 30, 42, 71, 114 

Sirens, 37, 38, 39 

Socrates, the eccles. historian, 12, 13 
Socrates, the philosopher, 13, 44, 47, 


Solon, 30, 31, 42, 66, 72 
Sophocles, 113, 114 
Sophronius, 53 

Spartan customs, 55, 56 
St. Paul, 76 

Stoics, 44, 47, 69, 107, 109 
Strabo, 1, 21, 73, 74 
Suez, ὃς 


Tantalus, 40 
Tartessus, 61 
Tellus, 62 


Thales, the Milesian, 82, 83, 107 
Thedorus of Mopsuestia, 20 
Theognis, 31, 32, 42, 116 
Theophrastus, 77, 86, 115 
Thermopylae, 57 

Thessaly, 51 

Theseus, 65 

Thrasymachus, 78 
Thucydides, 21, 62, 68, 116 
Tillemont, 22 

Timotheus, 49, 52 

Tiresias, 38 

Tithonus, 34, 35, 60 

Trajan, 36 

Trojans, 37 

Troy, 41 


Valens, 24 


Xenophanes of Colophon, 82, 84, 116 
Xenophon, 13, 34, 54, 67, 68, 69, 116 
Xerxes, 57 


Zeno, 1, 69, 70 
Zeus, 30, 31, 34, 35 


